The Romanian Market for Dried Fruits

Report on Rapid Market Appraisal conducted on May 14-18, 2007

The Romanian Market for Dried Fruits / RMA report

OBSERVATIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS

As result of the visit, based on meetings with importers and observations in the retail outlets, we concluded that Romanian dried fruit market is growing on both B2B1 and B2C2 segment and will continue to grow in the near future, a trend fuelled by increased household incomes. Still the Romanian market is considerably smaller than other regional markets like Russia, Poland, Ukraine and Belarus, where the dried fruits are part of the daily cuisine, as opposed to Romania. Prunes are ranked 4th from the top of imported dried fruits. The first place is occupied by raisins (about 4.3 millions USD), followed by figs (1.4 millions USD), dates (0.6 millions USD), and only then prunes (0.2 millions USD). Apples and cherries are imported in small volumes3. According to met importers, the industrial market consumes up to 85% of imported dried fruits.
FIGURE 1: VALUE OF ROMANIAN IMPORTS OF DRIED FRUITS AND BERRIES

$9,000,000 $8,000,000 $7,000,000 $6,000,000 $5,000,000 $4,000,000 $3,000,000 $2,000,000 $1,000,000 $0

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

Grapes

Figs

Prunes

Other fruits

Sales to industrial users like bakeries, candy makers, milk processors, etc. Sales to households, in bulk or in retail packs 3 More details can be found in the Target Market Confirmation Study Romanian Market for Dried Fruits located at http://export.acsa.md/File/Dried%20Fruit%20Report%20Romania%20Final.doc
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The Romanian Market for Dried Fruits / RMA report

Source: UN Comtrade

Considering the low share of fruits traditionally grown in Moldova (prunes, apples, and cherries), Moldovan dried fruit exporters are advised to focus on more promising markets such as Germany, Russia and Ukraine. At the same time, we believe that the Romanian market offers good prospects to those processors that bring additional value to plain dried fruits by transforming them into snacks such as apple chips/crisps, prunes covered with chocolate, etc. This is supported by the recognized affection of Romanians for snack food and increasing health awareness of consumers, especially in big cities.

Note: Parties interested in obtaining the full report should contact the Agribusiness Development Project by phone (373 22) 577930 or send an e-mail with the request at info@moldova.cnfa.org

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