Baku, Azerbaijan, August 17
By Tamilla Mammadova – Trend:
Demand for Georgian blueberries is growing, but despite it, product prices this season is reasonable, said Giorgi Gviniashvili, founder and director of Vartsikhe Plantation LLC, Trend reports citing bm.ge.
Vartsikhe plantations are grown on six hectares in the Baghdati region of Georgia. The company also owns refrigerated storage facilities that comply with ISO 22000 standards.
According to Georgi Gviniashvili, despite the high demand for this product from Russia, the price of blueberries in Georgia remains low. At the beginning of the season, the average price of the product was 15 lari, and at the end of the season - 11-12 lari.
“This year, the harvest from Vartsikhe plantations amounted to about 50 tons, 80 percent of which were exported, and 20 percent sold in local supermarkets. The main importing countries this year were the Bahrain (under a long-term contract), Kuwait, Russia, Oman, Qatar, and United Arab Emirates,” Gviniashvili said.
In his words, Georgian berries are exported to the foreign market in packages of 150 and 300 grams and transported from Tbilisi International Airport.
Speaking about future plans, Giorgi Gviniashvili said that by 2020, the company plans to expand the plantations of Vartsikhe and add another six hectares to its area.
The company also plans to start exports to China next year.
“We wanted to enter the Chinese market, but the demand for the product was so high that we could not deliver our products to China this year,” Gviniashvili said.
(1 USD = 2.92 GEL on August 17)