Poland was able to export reasonable amounts of Idared to Russia at the end of season 2014/'15. There was also a large demand for Polish apple juice concentrate from the US. This is according to the Polish professor Eberhard Makosz at portalpozywczy,pl, processed by the NFO. The Polish expect another good harvest for the coming season.
The 2014/'15 sales season had a difficult start due to the Russian embargo. Thanks to the European support measures the Polish fruit sector was able to give away 200,000 tonnes of apples to charity for free. The domestic consumption also rose, but that wasn't sufficient to compensate for the loss of the Russian market. In March the market suddenly turned around. According to Makosz this happened because there were new opportunities to export large amounts of apples, especially Idared to Russia. The apples were exported through all kinds of routes. The purchasing prices rose from between €0.10 to €0.12, to €0.50. Another surprise was the large demand for Polish apple juice concentrate from the US. The prices of industry fruit rose from between €0.02 to €0.04 to €0.12. Due to these two developments the entire store of Polish apples was still sold, believes Makosz. But only 20 percent of all Polish apples were sold for a cost covering price last season, according to the fruit cultivation expert.
Source: NFO