II – General time related pomegranate price trends Figure 1 demonstrates the general price trend of pomegranates in Europe. Considering the missing observations in 2002 and 2011, which cause an upward bias in the average annual price, pomegranate prices seem to have maintained a very steady level over time, fluctuating between €2.50 and €3.50 per kilogram.
4.00 3.50
euro / kg
3.00 2.50 2.00 1.50 1.00 0.50
20 11
20 10
20 09
20 08
20 07
20 06
20 05
20 04
20 03
20 02
0.00
Year Fig. 1.
Pomegranates price trend: average annual wholesale price, 2002 – 2011 (in 2003 and 2011, only January-July).
1. Monthly price distribution There are significant monthly differences in pomegranate prices during the main harvest season of the northern hemisphere, i.e. between September and the following January (including two or three months of supply from cold storage), and the main supply season of the southern hemisphere – from March through June. Figure 2 accentuates the difference between the average price of €2.33/kg in the "regular" i.e. traditional season and €3.66/kg during the off-season. The difference of €1.43/kg is apparently due to the small quantities of pomegranates arriving in Europe from the southern hemisphere. This occurs in spite of the large variety of competing fruits available on the market. Identification of supplies according to the ripening seasons in the two hemispheres allows the sellers to work out a strategy. Thus, for example, arranging to begin supplying fruit in the northern hemisphere a month earlier – say in August (or perhaps even in July), by developing earlier ripening varieties, should reward the sellers with premium prices. Similarly, the suppliers of the southern hemisphere are also challenged to extend their marketing season into July and August, for example, by extending the cold storage period.
2. Regional price differentiation in Europe The European demand for pomegranates is not homogeneous. This is clear from an analysis of prices paid for the fruit in the different countries. Europe was divided into sub-regions for the purpose of making a differential price analysis: Western Europe, including France, Belgium and the Netherlands, Central Europe, with Germany, Switzerland and Austria, the north – Denmark, Finland, Sweden, the South – Spain and Italy, and the UK, which was analyzed separately.
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Options Méditerranéennes, A, no. 103, 2012