site.btaAs Apricots Harvesting Season Starts in NE Bulgaria, Producers Complain of Low Purchase Prices, Shrinking Demand and Foreign Competition

As the apricots harvesting season started in the northeastern Silistra Region, which is a major apricot producer, growers say that while the harvest is good this year, they suffer losses due to low purchase prices, shrinking demand and cheap imports.

Rumen Zhekov has been growing apricots for 20 years. He said that production costs have multiplied during the years while purchase prices have only been edging up.

The production costs have soared to BGN 1/kg and wholesalers are only offering BGN 0.70/kg. 

Despite the low purchase price, apricots are way too expensive on fruit markets and supermarkets. "It means that somebody down the chain is making hefty profits on our back," says Zhekov.

He admits he is considering destroying his apricot orchards.

Apricot farmers say that due to inflation and other factors Bulgarians buy less fruit. Dimitrichka Turpanova, who is deputy chair of a local union of orchard growers, says consumption across the country has plummeted to a third of the usual level. That, paired with the cheap imported fruit, has caused interest in orchard growing among farmers to diminish in recent years.

Turpanova finds Bulgaria's geographic location to be a disadvantage because the produce of all major apricot producing countries which are not EU members - Turkey, Moldova, Serbia and North Macedonia - either go through or end up in Bulgaria.

Local producers believe that building a processing plant will largely solve their problems.

There is not a single fruit processing plant in northeastern Bulgaria, says Turpanova.

Due to the problems facing growers, tons of apricots may be left to rot on the trees.