The farmers in Georgia have completed the harvest of local strawberry varieties from the Kakheti region. Now the market is left with only the remontant varieties from open fields and greenhouses available. Following the end of the harvest of local strawberry varieties, the average wholesale price of strawberries has seen a 20% increase in GEL.
According to price monitoring data, the average wholesale price of strawberries this week was 6 GEL/kg($2.3) compared to 5 GEL/kg ($1.69) in the same period last year.
Giorgi Tavadze, the head of “Madlieri” cooperative, one of the large greenhouse strawberry producers in Georgia, shared with EastFruit that there is currently a high demand for strawberries. Despite their plans to supply supermarket chains, Tavadze mentioned that their products are primarily sold to pastry shops for processing due to high demand. Confectionaries are ready to pay 8 GEL/kg for unsorted strawberries. Tavadze explained that confectioneries prefer local strawberries over imports due to several advantages. Local strawberries do not require long-distance transportation, allowing for the picking of riper berries, resulting in a more flavorful product for consumers.
According to data published by the Ministry of Finance of Georgia, in May 2023, Georgia imported 812 tons of strawberries from Turkey, which is 17% less than in May 2022.
Raspberry harvest started
Georgian farmers have begun selling the first raspberry harvest of the season, with initially soaring prices. Supermarkets are pricing raspberries at up to 30 GEL/kg ($11.5), while farmers are selling their produce on-site for 15-20 GEL/kg ($5.75-$7.66). It is worth noting that only a fraction of farmers has commenced harvesting at this point.
Raspberry harvesting is currently underway in multiple regions, except for the Shida Kartli region, which has become one of the main raspberry-producing regions in Georgia in recent years, where picking will begin in about 10 days. In Kakheti and Kvemo Kartli, where new berry orchards were established in recent years, several farmers have ceased production due to unfavorable climate conditions for open-field raspberry cultivation. Despite the challenges associated with open-field berry production in Georgia, raspberries are still mostly grown in this manner. However, some individual producers have started transitioning to production in high tunnels.
P&K Berries, a raspberry producer in Georgia, in the Imereti region, owns 4.6 hectares of raspberry orchards, from which 4 hectares are open-field cultivation and 0.6 hectares – high tunnels. Vasil Purtseladze, the co-founder of P&K Berries, revealed in a discussion with EastFruit that production in the high tunnels is significantly more profitable, despite the relatively high initial investment.
