Producers could even call the recent events and prices an elder fever, like the gold rush. The surge in demand due to Covid and the surprisingly high purchase price generated not only interest in cultivation, but also speculators around the elderberry growers. Then came the sobering up, the low price, the new elder plantations, the AKG, the obligations, the stuck stocks, but the costs remained. The elderberry growers therefore met again in Kecel at the Fresh Fruit TÉSZ site to receive new information about the possibilities.
Only the apricot grower is more optimistic than the elderberry grower
Elder growers probably expected the prices from speakers György Csizmadia (Botész) and Csaba Juhos (Fresh Fruit TÉSZ), but in the absence of a magic bullet, the experts could not answer these questions either. It is certain that the prices of 2021-22 will go down in the history books as “elder fever”, as expected, but at least it could be inferred that those prices will not remain permanently. Covid raised prices, the demand for vitamin preparations increased drastically, so the elderberry, previously known as a food dye, suddenly advanced to a health-preserving, preventive, practically pharmaceutical base material. Not seeing a way out of covid, the buyers made promises to each other, and the buyers went with the price, they easily got used to the high numbers. The producers were encouraged by the increased demand, the planting of elder trees started, and a new sector began to develop around us. Then the Ukrainian elder also appeared on the market, although at first only in the form of wild elder, but it only takes a longer moment, and seeing the market, the desire to grow Ukrainian elder begins. Since Europe was declared healthy at the same time, the health sector does not require new shipments of elderberries, nor even the stuck stocks (we are worried about something else in the meantime, not our health). In the meantime, the seemingly certain dye market also found its substitute product, e.g. in the much cheaper black beet.
What will be the next step?
The sad fact sounded sobering in Kecel: in 10-15 years, there will certainly not be a need for so many elderberry producers, or even so many (6,000 hectares) of elderberry! Even this sector cannot escape the increase in efficiency, but this can only be overcome by the producer through a drastic technological change. The task of buyers, interest representatives, and TÉSZ is to find a long-term market for domestic elderberry. According to György Csizmadia, the market is not yet hopeless, according to his experience at foreign exhibitions, there is a market gap in concentrates, NFC juices, powdered lyophilisates or dried elderberry powder as a processed product, and we can still find a country that will accept it. However, the 3 tons of elderberry yield per hectare will no longer be sufficient for this, min. 8 tons should be targeted. According to the expert, approx. Hungarian producers have 6-8 years left to decide and implement whether to modernize or give up, because approx. until then, the Ukrainian farmer comes to his senses, assesses his market realistically, and after collecting some wild elderberries, sets up his own plantations, breaking our already fluctuating prices.
Indifference is avenged by the elder
Independent consultant Ilona Kaponyás is well known to domestic elderberry growers, in fact, her words are now heard even in Africa, and she recently returned home from Gran Canaria, where she also provided expert advice to gardeners in the Canary Islands, mostly on tomato cultivation. The consultant can support the growers who turn to him in terms of cultivation technology, he understands the high costs of plant protection in relation to the low purchase prices, as well as the growers’ reactions, but the eastern fruit moth, the spotted wing fly or the weaver mite, which arrive earlier due to elder decay or the heat, must also be taken into account competition if our income no longer covers our costs. Otherwise, we will lose our plantation in the long run, as he put it: “Indifference is avenged by the elder”.
Biological solutions are not only for organic growers
The plant protection trends, the Green Deal, and the guidelines of the Farm to Fork program all support the use of biologically based plant protection agents and adjuvants, and there is a market demand for “chemical-free” crop cultivation. Biocont Magyarország Kft. brought an even lesser-known technology to our country, and also undertook a huge educational activity in order to understand: the use of biological agents is not the same as organic farming. Regional representative Ármin Gyuris also brought the company’s latest product range to the Kecel event, which included the Activstart bioactivator, the Welcités Heliosol adjuvants, the NeemAzal and Pyregard insecticides, and the DiPel DF contact bacteria product developed against butterfly caterpillars.
We are monitoring the prices, there is still the desire to produce, but we are worried about the behavior of buyers. To be continued… Until then, a bit of nostalgia, let’s see how we saw the same thing in 2022: Elderberry business: will the cart continue to run?
