Supermarkets are gaining ever greater importance in the Ukrainian market and could well overtake traditional markets as Ukrainian consumers’ primarily source for fresh fruits and vegetables over the next three years.
This growth in modern grocery retailing is, together with a greater understanding of the health benefits of fresh fruits and vegetables, helping to fuel the development of the country’s fresh produce import sector.
This is the assessment of Pavel Tereshchenko, Kiev-based import manager for major Ukrainian import-export company Tropik, who believes the changes the market has seen over the last decade will intensify in the near future.
“Currently, we sell half our imports to supermarkets and traditional markets each, but supermarkets are becoming stronger and stronger, so in three to four years’ time, I think they will take a very big share of the market,” he told Eurofruit Magazine.
Of course, like all developing markets, Ukraine has felt the affects of the economic crisis more profoundly than many of its western neighbours, with consumption of imported exotics in particular decreasing.
But, although Oleg Aleksandrov, from fellow importer UFC, said his company’s banana imports dropped from its 50 per cent share of the market to its current 42 per cent, although he believes volumes look likely to return to close to previous levels.
“Consumption fell during the crisis and all importers felt the affects because people were only buying a small range of products – banana and citrus, but almost no exotics,” he said.
“But in 2010, the situation began to change so now things are almost the same as they were before the crisis.”
In fact, Aleksandrov anticipates that UFC’s turnover, which totalled over US$104m between January and June 2011, will reach more than US$200m by the year’s end.
Eurofood, another Kiev-based importer, has experienced a similar growth in its business, and the company’s Sami Ali believes the source of this increasing demand can be placed with a growing awareness among Ukrainian consumers of the health benefits of eating fruits and vegetables.
“The Ukrainian market is growing for sure - 20 years ago nobody understood what kiwifruit was; now they not only know what kiwifruit is, but they also want to take care of their health,” he added.
