The greenhouse vegetable market is changing: cucumber prices are falling, while tomato prices are rising
6 April 14:52
The Ukrainian greenhouse vegetable market has seen contrasting price trends: cucumbers are getting cheaper, while tomatoes are becoming significantly more expensive, according to "Komersant Ukrainian".
According to EastFruit analysts , at the end of last week, greenhouse complexes were selling cucumbers for 125–165 UAH per kilogram, which is about 10% cheaper than a week earlier.
At the same time, greenhouse tomatoes are just beginning to hit the market, and their price is significantly higher than last year’s.
Why are cucumbers getting cheaper?
Analysts attribute the price drop to a combination of two factors:
- declining demand due to high prices for greenhouse vegetables;
- rapid growth in supply from Ukrainian greenhouse complexes.
Favorable weather has allowed producers to increase harvest volumes, so the supply of cucumbers on the market is growing rapidly.
Imported produce, which typically costs up to 100 UAH per kg—cheaper than Ukrainian cucumbers—is putting additional pressure on prices.
However, even after the price drop, cucumbers remain about 25% more expensive than during the same period last year.
Why are tomatoes getting more expensive?
Unlike cucumbers, the situation with tomatoes is the opposite.
Ukrainian greenhouse farms have only just begun supplying their first batches of produce, and due to limited supply, prices remain high.
Currently, greenhouse complexes are selling tomatoes for 150–170 UAH per kg.
This is approximately 66% more expensive than at the start of last year’s season.
Dominance of imports
For now, imported produce—primarily from Turkey—accounts for the majority of the market.
Turkish tomatoes are sold slightly cheaper than Ukrainian ones—approximately 130–150 UAH per kg, depending on quality and supply volumes.
It is imports that are currently holding back further price increases for tomatoes.
What happened earlier
At the end of March, greenhouse tomatoes in Ukraine were selling for 140–160 UAH per kg.
Even then, this was about 16% more expensive than a week earlier, indicating the start of price increases in this segment.
