To Russia with love

Here is a 22-page pdf report published in late December by the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service on the remarkable growth of Russia as an importer of fresh fruit. Russia is now the biggest importer of apples in the world.

Some USDA perspective on the U.S. position in Russian Far East:

According to import statistics, apples are the preferred favorite fruit in the RFE. The market share for apples, citrus and bananas, and pears is 34%, 25%, and 12%, respectively. China and the U.S. are the main suppliers of apples to the RFE. In 2006 China increased apple exports to the RFE 14% over 2005 totals, and exported 38.8 million metric tons of apples valued at $18.6 million. Chinese varieties of Granny Smith, Gala, Golden, Delicious, and Red Delicious are similar to American varieties, and more competitive on price relative to fruit exports from other countries. The U.S. is the 2nd largest exporter of apples to the RFE, and in 2006 U.S. apple exports to the region increased 27% to 2,048 metric tones. U.S. apples are competitively priced and slowly replacing apples from European countries. Chile is steadily increasing export volumes to the REF, and the Vladivostok ATO is monitoring the RFE to see how the market responds to Chilean apples.