Ukrainian berries were exported to Singapore for the first time

The first trial lot was about 500 kg of the product at a price of 250 USD/kg (7.66 euros). At the same time, according to the head of the “Ukrainian Berry” company, the cost of transportation and logistics amounted to 70 UAH (2.15 euros), writes “Agro-Center” with reference to “EastFruit”.

Exports of Ukrainian blueberries became possible thanks to an export mission organized in January 2018 by FAO, the EBRD and the Embassy of Ukraine in Singapore and Malaysia with the support of the Ukrainian Fruit and Vegetable Association.

According to the head of the “Ukrainian Berry”, the purpose of the supply was to study the possibilities of logistics of fresh berries to a distant market. The expert believes that it is the future market for Ukraine. After all, the fresh berries consumption culture is only beginning to form there, and there is no demand for frozen berries at all.

The three main crops that are consumed there are cherries, strawberries, and blueberries. The volumes of supplies are relatively small, and logistics of Ukrainian suppliers is more complicated than that of suppliers from the United States or Australia. No direct flights – Ukrainian exporters have to deliver berries through Istanbul. Moreover, berries may spoil due to temperature fluctuations.

The company believes that, at this stage, the EU market should be a priority as it is really close to Ukraine. Even despite the fact that this market is more demanding in terms of quality. Interestingly, if we subtract the cost of logistics of transporting the product to Singapore from price, we get the cost of these berries in Ukraine. However, Southeast Asia is a rapidly expanding market. Therefore, it is necessary to keep an eye on the opportunities of this market and look for ways to optimize logistics.

The Ukrainian Fruit and Vegetable Association experts believe that transporting the product to Istanbul by car and loading on direct flights at the airport is one of the best options of transporting fresh berries to Asia. It prevents temperature fluctuations and reduces overall cost. Thus, it will be possible to supply not only lobsters but also raspberries, cherries and other expensive goods of this product group to Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong and other countries of the region.