The peach harvest has begun in Georgia’s eastern Kakheti region, and while you'll be able this juicy organic fruit at any open market in the capital now- you can't beat driving east to directly buy a bucket of freshly picked produce from a Kakhetian villager (at possible half the price!).
Check out the latest news on the harvest below, and to discover some of the troubles peach farmers have been facing due to bad weather and over-abundance of harvested fruit.
Commersant is reporting that, although the harvest has begun, the region’s fruit processing factories are not yet running. Archil Khandamashvili, Mayor of Gurjaani, said that 80-90% of Georgia’s peaches are exported, due in part to inadequate domestic processing facilities.
In 2013, a fruit-processing and storage enterprise called Georgian Fruit Company Ltd. opened in the Gurjaani municipality, funded under the frame of the preferential agro-credit project. At least $1 million has been invested into the business. In 2016, the facility helped the harvest run smoothly.
In 2017, peach and nectarine growers in Kakheti suffered from too much of a good thing. Much of last year’s harvest spoiled or was distilled into peach chacha (definitely worth trying!) by locals unable to sell their fruit. The nectarine harvest was robust, and demand for the fruit is relatively low, driving down already low prices.
One farmer, quoted by OC Media, said he gave up farming due to last year’s failed harvest. “I am considering cutting the peach trees down and creating a vineyard. At least [grapes] don’t spoil so easily. I wasn’t able to earn even half of what I invested. This is a disaster,” said a man identified only as Kemashvili. Mayor Khandamashvili says that, "Unlike last year's trend, this year we expect a much better harvest."
Shalva Kereselidze, Head of Regional Coordination at the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture, says that Kakheti has not yet demonstrated a need or demand for a fruit processing facility. In Gori, 2 and a half hours away by car, there is a factory of Kula, a Georgian company that makes fruit juices and compotes. Some Kakhetian farmers sell their peaches to Gori and the Kula factory covers the transportation costs and logistics. In 2017, Kula bought 500 tons of peaches from Kakheti.
Since 2013, the government has been encouraging farmers to form cooperatives to sell their produce, but most are not interested in such a scheme.
The Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia released a statement saying they expect this year’s peach harvest in Kakheti to reach a total of 23,600 tons of peaches, collected along with an estimated 13,000 tons of nectarines. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Georgia has exported 1,608 tons of peaches so far this year, which is 1,537.58 tons (22-fold) more than in 2017.
In the first quarter of 2018, Georgia exported $7.8 million of agricultural goods – 22% more than the first quarter of 2017. According to a 2016 value chain analysis by PMCG and Iakob Gogebashvili Telavi State University, Kakheti produces 74% of Georgia’s peaches.
By Samantha Guthrie
Main photo: Food Perestroika