This week, Ukrainian producers started shipping the first significant batches of local watermelons from their farms. Currently, watermelon prices on the market are almost 60% higher than in the first batches of 2022.

This is reported by the EastFruit project, which studies the agricultural market.

According to its data, sales of local watermelons in 2023 began at least a week earlier than in 2022. However, prices for the first batches are significantly higher than last year.

At the moment, watermelons are available for sale at prices ranging from 18 to 27 UAH/kg ($0.49-0.74/kg), which is on average 59% more expensive than the first batches of local watermelons in 2022.

The main market players point out that this increase in prices for local watermelons is due to the lack of supplies from Kherson region, which is one of the leaders in growing this popular agricultural product.

According to the producers themselves, a more massive sale of watermelons is planned for early August. It is worth noting that many Ukrainian producers do not rule out the possibility of a sharp decline in the price of watermelons in the near future due to an increase in the supply of this product from local farms.