Exports of tomato paste from Ukraine in 2021/22 (marketing year, July-June) amounted to 62,180 tonnes, which is 45% (or 27,980 tonnes) less than the previous year.
As reported on the industry website tomatonews.com, the main reason for this reduction was the Russian occupation and hostilities in Mykolaiv and Kherson regions, where the largest Ukrainian tomato paste producer, the Agrofusion agricultural holding, is located.
According to the publication, the export of tomato paste from Ukraine in February 2022 amounted to 4,090 tonnes (37% less compared to the same month in 2021), in March – 196 tonnes (a drop of 97.2%), in April – 861 tonnes (80% less), in May – 1,120 tonnes (72.2% less), in June – 473 tonnes (85.7% less).
Agrofusion is a vertically integrated group of companies engaged in the cultivation and processing of tomatoes for manufacturers of juices, ketchups and tomato sauces. Before the full-scale Russian invasion, it included 10 departments, two greenhouses, three plants for the production of tomato paste (two in Mykolaiv region, one in Kherson region) with a total capacity of up to 750,000 tonnes of tomatoes per season. The total land bank of agricultural enterprises in Kherson and Mykolaiv regions amounted to more than 32,000 hectares of irrigated land.
The group of companies was founded in 2005 by businessman Serhiy Sypko. In 2019, Agrofusion launched a vegetable drying plant in Snihurivka (Mykolaiv region) and began the production of tomato powder.
