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Walnuts: Buyers stand before orchards, demanding it all

October 11, 2017 at 1:29 PM , Starry Night Ltd.
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SOFIA. Never before have some local farmers of organic walnuts experienced such a complete buyout.

BULGARIA. The earliest walnuts in shell that hit the market are not calibrated, are usually smaller in size and the different local varieties are sold in mix; for instance, Izvor-10, Sheynovo, Dryanovo, Silistrenski, etc. Foreign buyers prefer to pass over this massive wave of selling so that they could focus on better quality crop later in the month.

Walnuts: Massive buyouts at some orchards

At the start of harvest nether buyers nor sellers have been covered since carry-over was literally zero. As a result, fearing an increase in the price later in the season, buyers of organic walnuts, securing their medium-term market positions, have extended offers to farmers while walnuts have been yet on trees. Farmers sell, refusing to entangle in the cumbersome process of collecting, storing, drying, housing, breaking, sorting out, and selling walnuts later in the season, even though prices might increase.

In the realm of prices

Conventional walnuts orchards are grown throughout the whole country since Bulgaria has a long history of walnut cultivation. The more market players enter the market, the more pressure is there on price. However, organic orchards of walnuts, which nuts have been certified and laboratory tested, are not as widely spread as their conventional counterparts. However, every year more and more local farmers orient themselves towards the cultivation of organic orchards since realized margins are much higher and foreign buyers do not shun the higher price. Prices of organic kernels are expected to start as high as 10.00 EUR/kg light halves, EXW Bulgaria this season.

Organic walnuts, Bulgaria

Type

EUR/kg

amber kernels (mix)

8.20

in shell

4.10

EXW Bulgaria
   

Walnuts, Bulgaria

Type

EUR/kg

light kernels (mix)

7.56

light halves

8.16

light quarters

7.14

light brokens

6.20

amber kernels (mix)

6.15

amber halves

6.15

amber quarters

6.15

amber brokens

6.15

in shell

2.05

EXW Bulgaria

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