OCTOBER RETAIL FPI | Inside the 2017 Georgia Grape Harvest

At the end of October, food prices maintained an upward trend; ISET’s Retail FPI gained 2.6% m/m (compared to the last week of September). On an annual basis (compared to October 2016), we recorded a significant 11.3% increase for food prices. According to data from the last two weeks of October, the biggest increase in price was recorded for tomatoes (99%), for which the price almost doubled due to seasonality. The other two products with the highest increases in prices were cucumbers (14.7%) and frozen chicken (10%). Although there was an overall increase in food prices, some food items became cheaper. The prices that moved down most were cabbage (-12.1%), eggplant (-4.2%), and bananas (-2.9%).

A CLOSER LOOK AT the WINE SECTOR

According to the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA), Georgian Rtveli (harvest) for this year has successfully finished. As of today, 130,000 tons of grapes have been processed; that is 14% higher compared to the previous year (114,264 tons). The revenues of Georgian grape growers are also higher, and amounted to 150 million GEL. This indicator is 50% higher compared to the previous year (about 100.2 million GEL). It is noteworthy that this year the Government of Georgia (GoG) did not have to buy excess grapes, as the private sector managed to handle processing and storage of all harvested grapes.

It appears that private sector efficiency is improving. As a result of government support to develop the country’s wine sector, 24 new enterprises got involved in wine-production, while 48 enterprises expanded their activities. Taking into account several initiatives to gain international recognition, the future of Georgian viticulture seems to be promising.

From ISET