Moldova's cherry paradox: Frosts, prices, and EU growth
This year's cherry crop will be smaller than last year's due to spring frosts, estimates the Moldova-Fruct Association.
However, Moldovan exporters are enjoying a price increase of over 50 percent. The fruit is gaining more and more ground in the European Union market, with the share of cherry exports significantly increasing this year.
Vasile Braga is a cherry producer from Șoldănești district and owns an orchard near the village of Vadul-Rașcov. He owns 50 hectares, and he's already harvesting cherries from 24 of them. The producer explained that achieving a quality harvest requires considerable effort, and this spring's frosts clearly affected production.
"We usually get around 15 tons per hectare. We aim for the best quality, very large caliber. But because of this year's frosts, the average might be only 5-6 [tons per hectare]; I don't know, the calculations haven't been made yet. Some varieties practically yielded nothing. To have quality cherries, a big investment is needed. One must be responsible to avoid worms, spray on time, and spend as much time as possible in the field. This year is like this; next year will be better."
To export fruit to the European market, which imposes strict quality standards, Vasile Braga and his team obtained the necessary certificates for deliveries to the common market, and invested in modern sorting lines and high-performance anti-hail and rain systems.
"We are on the European market; we have sorting lines, a very good cooling system, which is why all Europeans contact us. We can freely sell in any store, any market worldwide. It's very difficult to enter their market, and that's why we strive for the highest quality. They have strict control and analysis there."
Data on cherry exports in June 2025 show a decrease in exported quantity compared to the same period last year, from 10,000 tons to approximately 8,000 tons. Nevertheless, the total value of exports significantly increased from $13 million to $20 million, thanks to a 51 percent rise in the average export price, states Iurie Fală, executive director of the Moldova-Fruct Association.
"In one month of sales, we exported a total of 2,200 tons to European Union markets, whereas last year this quantity was exported throughout the entire year. We expect exports to European Union markets to grow. We see that, with the reorientation to other markets, prices have also increased. If, on average, for 2023-2024, the cherry export price we recorded was around $1.30-$1.40 per kilogram — this year it increased to an average of $2.40 per kilogram, which allowed revenues to be higher than last year."
According to the Moldova-Fruct Association, the geography of cherry exports this year differs from that of 2024. Thus, the share towards CIS countries decreased from 84% to 70%, while the share towards EU bloc countries increased from 16% to 28%.
Translation by Iurie Tataru
