Processing Second-Grade Apples: Experience of a Successful Business in Kyiv Region

This is reported by AgroReview

Regular spring frosts and a decrease in demand for second-grade apples are forcing orchards to seek new solutions for selling their products. In such conditions, processing fruits into juice can become not only an additional line of business but also a separate source of stable income.

How Apple Processing Changed the Business of Farm “Valentina”

According to Inna Semerog, co-owner of the “Valentina” farm in the Kyiv region, it was the issues with selling lower-quality apples that prompted them to start producing cold-pressed juices. She notes that second-grade apples are hardly in demand, even at reduced prices. Some of the harvest can be sold, but the volumes of this product remain insufficient.

“What to do with second-grade apples? They are not wanted, even at a lower price. Some portion is taken, of course, but definitely not in the volume we would like,” she explained.

Today, the enterprise produces about 600 tons of juice each year. Of this, approximately 200 tons are made from their own raw materials, while the rest is processed on order from other farmers under a toll processing scheme. The production workshop operates almost until May: some batches of apples arrive right after harvest, while others come after long storage.

Added Value and Stability for Small Business

Inna Semerog emphasizes that processing apples does not provide immediate financial returns; however, in the long term, it allows a small orchard to ensure stability and gain additional profit. Thanks to processing, apples that could have gone unsold or ended up in the trash become valuable raw materials for producing juices that are in demand in the market.

Thus, the approach to fruit processing allows for optimizing the use of the harvest and creating new opportunities for the development of small agribusiness.