The international markets are demanding increasingly bigger grades. There are some exceptions but "there are only a few countries that prefer medium-small 60 to 75 mm fruits, like for example Great Britain and Scandinavia in general," explains Luca Granata from Melinda.
All of the other destinations want medium-big (75 to 85mm) fruits. "This is why there is a difference in prices favouring medium-big fruits with respect to others having the same variety, category and packaging."
And the difference is going to increase in 2013/14. "It depends on many factors, the most important being the availability of big and small fruits. This year, it seems that there will be less medium-big apples available, and therefore prices will be better with respect to the previous two years. At the same time, a bigger supply of medium-small grades means that their price will be lower."
The general manager of the Consortium feels it is important to point out that "the prices of fresh perishable produce depend on many factors that often influence each other and that can change very quickly. Therefore, the attempts to define rules to calculate the trend of prices were never really successful."
But this does not mean that nothing can be done about it, as, "we try to analyse the data we have available in order to define strategies and tactics, despite the fact that often dynamics are unexpected and incomprehensible."
As regards grades, Fabio Zanesco, marketing manager for Vip-Val Venosta added that "the Mediterranean area, as usual, demands medium-big grades, but this tendency is also happening in North Africa, where such grades are seen as luxury as local growers normally produce medium-small grades as it is difficult to obtain bigger ones."
"For the same reason, big grades are getting more popular also in countries like Russia and Poland. On the other hand, Germany and Scandinavia seem to prefer medium or small grades - nothing really changed over there."