During the final "Berry Market 2023" event organized by the association of berry growers in Moldova, FAO economist Andriy Yarmak presented an assessment of the global berry market. Notably, he revealed surprising facts, including the revelation that global berry trade surpassed bananas in 2021 and maintained its lead in 2022, despite a decline in export volumes.
The trade of fresh and frozen berries at the end of 2022 generated approximately US $13.7 billion in revenues, surpassing banana trade for the same period. Yarmak highlighted the accelerated growth in raspberry exports, averaging a remarkable 20% per year from 2018 to 2022, outpacing the growth of fresh blueberry exports.
Furthermore, Yarmak noted the intriguing dynamics in the global trade of fresh blueberries and fresh strawberries. As of 2022, fresh blueberries accounted for 34% of global trade in fresh and frozen berries, entering the top 5 products in the fruit sector by export volumes, alongside oranges.
He emphasized the continued high position of fresh strawberries in global trade, attributing it to their widespread cultivation, improved breeding techniques enhancing taste and appearance, and the transition to growing significant volumes of strawberries indoors, allowing for season expansion and improved berry quality.
Despite the rapid growth in raspberry exports, fresh raspberries maintained higher trade volume than frozen ones in value, primarily due to their higher market price compared to the cyclically fluctuating prices of frozen raspberries.
Read full article: East-Fruit
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