More than 50% of the total yield of apples in Russia is processed. According to the company “APK-Inform: Vegetables and Fruits”, during the last two years Russian companies stocked at least 700-750 thousand tons of apples. The experts note that over the past 4 years the volume of apples processing increased by almost 35%, reflecting primarily an increase in consumption of apple juice in the country. Another proof that Russians use more apple juice, is the positive dynamics of apple concentrate imports, while reducing exports.
Back in 2008, the volume of apple concentrate imports in Russia was only 67 thousand tons, while Russian companies produced no more than 500 thousand tons of own material. In 2011, imports of concentrate raised up to 94 thousand tons, while the amount of apples’ processing increased up to 750 thousand tons. Russian exports of concentrate decreased by almost 1.5 times for the last 4 years. The experts of “APK-Inform: Vegetables and Fruits” believe that due to a good apple harvest and relatively high prices the Russian companies will process a record volume of 855 thousand tons of apples.
Source: www.fruitnews.ru