For Apple and Pear Australia Limited, 2016
began with a Post-harvest Seminar that
acknowledged the importance of post-
harvest in delivering first class apples and
pears. According to APAL, the 2016 crop looks like another good crop of apples and, following the devastating hail storms in the Goulburn Valley, a leaner crop of pears.
However, having a good crop is only great if it can be sold at reasonable prices, and as was discovered last season – where the worst pricing for some years was experienced- management of the markets and marketing well is necessary to ensure an equitable share of profits to everyone involved.
For domestic marketing, APAL has prepared a detailed analysis of the market research to establish why Australians are not buying more apples and pears. They met with the major retailers to see how the industry can work better with them and improve everyone’s profitability.
APAL has also prepared briefs for both an apple and pear campaign to address these barriers and, now that Hort Innovation is staffed in the marketing area, they will be working with them to implement the campaigns.
However, it’s not just about the domestic market. To grow as an industry, long-term, reliable export markets for their apples and pears are necessary. The good news is that 2015 saw great growth in exports in pears that were up by 46 per cent – representing 14 per cent of their fresh pear crop. Apple exports were up 111 per cent, but off a small base. They still export less than 2 per cent of fresh apple production – which needs to be at 10 per cent! The good news is that the declining Australian dollar is assisting by improving their trading position with 15 countries they trade or compete with.
APAL is also working on more cost effective ways to export to make them more competitive, for example, packing in export bins for those markets that repack their fruit locally. Although not everyone is expected to export, they do need a significant volume of fruit to be exported and this can be done by 10-20 committed exporters with a particular focus on Pink Lady™ apples. They will also be focusing on new markets for Australian apples and pears.
The key challenges mentioned above will be covered at the 2016 National Horticulture Convention, which is scheduled for 23-25 June on the Gold Coast, with AUSVEG and the Central Markets Association of Australia in partnership with Fresh Markets Australia (CMAA-FMA). The convention will pay equal attention to pre- and post-harvest issues and, importantly, ways to improve both their domestic sales, pricing and growing exports.
For more information, please visit apal.org.au.