Ukraine has become the world leader in frozen raspberry exports

According to EastFruit analysts, a historic milestone was achieved in 2024: Ukraine, a country that barely exported frozen raspberries a decade ago, has emerged as the world leader in net frozen raspberry exports. For the first time, it has surpassed not only Poland but also Serbia, the long-standing leader in this segment.

In the 2024 calendar year, trade statistics show Ukraine’s frozen raspberry exports reached a record-breaking 65,000 tons, marking a remarkable 34% increase within a single year. This growth outpaced all other major exporters significantly. Over the past three seasons, Ukraine’s frozen raspberry exports have more than doubled, while Serbia’s export volumes remained stagnant, and Poland saw a 24% decline.

Notably, Ukraine imports only negligible amounts of raspberries, whereas Serbia—and especially Poland—rely heavily on imports. In Poland, imported raspberries now account for over 52% of its total export volume, with the majority sourced from Ukraine. In effect, nearly half of Poland’s frozen raspberry exports consist of Ukrainian produce. This affordable Ukrainian supply has been key to Poland’s ability to remain competitive in the global market.

When examining net export volumes, Ukraine’s 65,000 tons starkly contrasts with Poland’s mere 16,000 tons. In 2024, Ukraine exported four times more frozen raspberries than Poland. Interestingly, in terms of gross export volume, Ukraine still trails Serbia slightly. Serbia exported 67,700 tons of raspberries in 2024, compared to Ukraine’s 65,100 tons. However, Serbia imported 4,700 tons for re-exports, resulting in a net export volume of 63,000 tons—2,000 tons less than Ukraine.

“A critical step toward solidifying Ukraine’s global leadership in frozen raspberry exports will be further diversification of its export markets. To achieve this, Ukrainian exporters must enhance raspberry quality and invest in post-harvest processing to boost average export prices. Increased revenues could then be reinvested into improving product improvement, elevating quality standards, and expanding production capacity. Currently, many Ukrainian frozen berry producers still export what is essentially raw material to Poland, where processors refine, sort, package, and re-export it, retaining the added value domestically,” explains Andriy Yarmak, an economist at the FAO’s Investment Centre.

The diversification of Ukraine’s frozen raspberry exports is already in full swing. Ironically, it has been facilitated by Poland itself – local farmers have been blocking the borders protesting imports of raspberries and other agricultural products from Ukraine, which led to new market discoveries by Ukrainian exporters. Consequently, higher percentage of added value stayed in Ukraine and got reinvestment into further expansion of production and processing.

Between 2022 and 2024, Poland’s share of Ukraine’s raspberry exports dropped from 63% to 35%. Meanwhile, the share of key markets like Germany, the Czech Republic, Austria, and France—traditional destinations for Polish exporters—more than doubled in Ukraine’s direct exports, reaching 48%. Ukraine is effectively capturing market share from Poland, a feat made possible by improvements in product quality and processing.

Over the past three years, Ukraine’s frozen raspberry exports to Germany surged 4.5-fold, to the Czech Republic by 4.2 times, to Austria by an astonishing 33 times, and to France by twofold. In 2024, Ukraine also exported over 2,000 tons to Belgium, Italy, and Lithuania for the first time.

Additionally, Ukraine is rapidly expanding its presence in Canada and the United States, markets that offer significantly higher prices than EU importers. Just three years ago, Ukraine had no foothold in these countries, but it now frequently outpaces Polish competitors in export volumes there.

Among unconventional export destinations, commercial shipments of Ukrainian frozen raspberries to Argentina and Saudi Arabia stand out.

Given the high raspberry prices in the previous season, EastFruit analysts forecast that Ukraine will set new export volume records in the 2025 calendar year and the 2025/26 season, further cementing its leadership. Specifically, Ukraine could overtake Serbia even in gross frozen raspberry exports in 2025.

Tags: Ukraine, export, raspberry