How the strawberry business is structured, who earns the most from berries, and why they are sometimes discarded

Photo: ONT

Scenes that make your heart ache: a farmer discards strawberries. Box after box — onto the roadside. The video quickly circulated social media, dividing users into those who sympathize and those who seek culprits. But the truth, as always, lies somewhere in the middle.

6 AM, "New Lyabedziny" market, or, as it's popularly called, "Tabary". The sun hasn't risen yet, but life here is already bustling. Both small farmers and large farms come to sell perishable goods.

Most of those you can find at "Tabary" grow and sell the berries themselves. However, there are also resellers. They buy in bulk at a low price, and then add their own markup.

But many farmers cannot do without intermediaries. It's easier for them to sell everything at once, even if cheaper, than to stand at the market all day.

To delve deeper into how the strawberry business is structured, you need to go to the Brest region — Belarus's strawberry paradise. Plantations of "red gold" are in almost every yard. Some grow for themselves, some for sale. The local strawberry market is the main hub for resellers. The atmosphere here is more colorful than at the capital's "Tabary".

An open trunk of a silver "Opel", next to it boxes of strawberries. One of the buyers offers a good price, a whole queue has formed for him.

Strawberries are weighed, sorted. Size, shape, taste, and color are important. And yes, you can bargain here.

They buy for 6, and in neighboring Pinsk, they sell for 10 and 12. And not everyone likes such pricing. Alexander Zorin, owner of a personal subsidiary farm, says:

«They are forced, naturally, to sell these berries on the spot or transport them somewhere else to sell, because, hypothetically, they need to pick them again the next day. You can't keep them for yourself either, because this includes earnings. So they bring them, and if the price is, let's say, 4 rubles, they have no choice but to sell them for 4 rubles.»

Or even cheaper, if the harvest is good. And imported ones are also brought in. Hence the price fluctuations. Few strawberries — bad, many — also bad.

Maksim Kasovich, owner of a personal subsidiary farm, explains:

«If today you can sell strawberries for 12-13 rubles per kilogram, tomorrow it will be sunny, everyone will rush to pick them, and strawberries can be sold for 3-5 rubles at most. And the strawberries are select, large, and there's nowhere to go, because strawberries are not a product that can sit around.»

Maksim has 30 ares across two plots. He grows in a greenhouse. A lot of money goes specifically into maintenance. Therefore, he fundamentally does not work with wholesalers. Otherwise, you won't even cover the costs. The harvest is up to 500 kilograms. Volumes that can be sold independently, so no berries are ever left over.

«Everyone earns as they can. It's like, regrettable — not regrettable, but since we are interested in selling it for a price that could cover the insane costs we invest here, we try to sell it ourselves, that is, to work for our own name.»

And even if the berries have slightly lost their marketable appearance, it's not necessary to discard them — they can be sent for processing. True, processors won't pay much — 1.5 rubles at best. But that's better than nothing.

The retail price, however, changes depending on the weather and, accordingly, on the ripening volumes. The minimum price tag at Minsk's Kamarouka market ranges from 6 (very small berries) to 18 rubles. Here's the answer to the question of who earns more. Buyers, though indignant, still purchase.

Growing strawberries is not about "plant and forget". It's hard work, the risk of losing everything due to spring frosts, and the hope that June won't be rainy. And then — sorting, packaging, resellers, markups. And now on the counter, the price is many times higher than what the farmer received for his labor. Fairness in this chain is a stretched concept. There are only market rules. And they equally hit the wallets of both those who grow and those who buy.

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