A little under 200 enterprises processed fruits and vegetables in our country last year, having invested 91,600 tons of fresh fruit and 106,700 tons of fresh vegetables, the Ministry of Agriculture reports.
64,700 tons of finished fruit products were produced, and 84,400 tons of finished vegetable products. Cherries, apples, peaches and plums have the largest share of processed fruits. Tomatoes, peppers and potatoes are the most processed vegetables.
However, the data shows that processed fresh fruit is 21.4% less than the previous year, and vegetables are down 2.3%.
For fruits, the largest share is those delivered by Bulgarian producers – 45%, followed by imports from third countries – 23%. The enterprises manage 838 hectares of land, from which 12% of the processed fruit was supplied.
For fresh vegetables, the share of domestic production is even greater - 85%, followed by supplies from the EU – 8%, and imports from third countries – 2%. The largest amount of imported carrots is from the EU, and from third countries it is pepper and again carrots, writes Pariteni.bg. In the case of fruits, imports from the EU are mainly apples, peaches and strawberries, from third countries – of cherries.
The finished production of processed fruits realized in the country is 36,900 tons. Shipments to the EU are 28.9 thousand tons, exports to third countries are 6,100 tons. The quantities of fruit production in storage as of 31.12.2023 and others (marriage) is 27,800 tons.
The finished production of processed vegetables realized in Bulgaria is 54,700 tons, shipments to the EU are 18,800 tons, and exports to third countries are 7,300 tons. The amount of vegetable production in storage and others (marriage) is 30,600 tons.