In the EU the production of apples was more than 12 billion kgs in 2015.This was the second-greatest EU-harvest ever. Nearly one third of theproduction came from Poland, followed by Italy and France. The Dutch appleharvest was almost 336 million kgs last year, about 3 percent of the totalEU-harvest. Almost 2.5 billion pears have been harvested in 2015. TheNetherlands accounts for 15 percent of the harvest. The Dutch harvest of 2015(349 million kgs) matches the production record of 2014.
Poland,in particular, has built up a large production potential for apples. TheEuropean apple production has grown with almost 20 percent relative to theaverage production over the years 2005 to 2007, from 10 to 12 billion kgs.
The Dutch top fruit sector has used the degraded marketposition of apples to increase the cultivation of pears. The Europeanproduction of pears has decreased by 10 percent relative to the averageproduction over the years 2005 to 2007.
Price development
The production prices for apples and pears aregenerally low, ever since the beginning of the boycott. The price of the mostimportant apple varieties, Elstar and Jonagold, in the Netherlands was in theseason 2014/2015 about 35 percent lower than in the season before the boycott.The prices remained low relative to the three-year average as well. The priceof the Conference pear was low at the beginning of the season. The priceincreased during spring, allowing the average price to remain 5 percent behindon the previous season and 20 percent on the three-year average.
Inthis season (2015/2016) there is for the second season in a row dramaticpricing of apples and pears. The average producer price of the Elstar apple andConference pear is about 20 to 30 percent lower than the average price of thethree years prior to the boycott. Many producers and retailers are likely to end up with financial problems, due to the extra costs for storage by storing theirfruit in cold stores. Fruit is stored in the hope of selling later on in theseason to cover the costs. At the end of the season there might be an excess ofapples and pears that cannot be sold. The estimated damage due to the boycottis 100 – 125 million Euro per season for the Dutch top fruit sector (productionand retail).
Sales
Thesale of Dutch apples is mainly directed at the domestic market. About 65percent of the harvest is consumed by the Dutch. About 30 percent of the pearharvest is consumed in the Netherlands, the remainder is exported.
Russiawas, until the boycott, a major consumer of apples and pears from the EU. In 2013more than 800 million kg apples and pears were imported. This is 20 percent ofthe total EU export of apples and pears, now these amounts have to be soldsomewhere else. For the Dutch pear sector, Russia was the number 1 exportdestination, taking almost 30 percent of the total export. The Dutch apples areless popular in Russia, but indirectly they suffer from the boycott. There ismuch pressure on prices of the traditional market of Europe, because majorsuppliers, such as Poland and Italy, cannot export apples to Russia. Polandsupplied 700 million kgs of apples to Russia in 2013. Poland has a record stockof apples during the current market season. According to the numbers, largeamounts have been imported by Belarus into Russia, since the beginning of theboycott. This product stream means less in the current season. The Russianimport of apples from Belarus was in the first quarter of 2016 only 56 million kgs,while 159 million kg was imported in the first quarter of 2015.
TheRussian boycott led to a decrease in the export of Dutch top fruit. Thisregulation has led to more competition on the European market and thus a dropin prices.
Thesector is looking for new markets. Since the start of the Russian boycott(summer of 2014), there have been a few successes. This is due to the greatcollaboration between government and businesses in the market entrynew markets Taskforce. China, Brazil, Vietnam, and India are countries where fruitexporters can trade. This way the loss of the export to Russia still cannot becompensated. Export to new markets requires patience. The export figures forChina, for example, prove as such. Last season, more than 1 million kgs ofpears were exported to China. Almost 95 percent of the Dutch apple export iswithin the EU, for pears this is 90 percent. This season (up until mid May), thetotal export of Dutch pear remains 9 percent behind on last season. Especially theexport to Germany and England is lower than expected.
On the 1st May, the remainder of apples were sold in the EU, with an amount almost never seen before, at 1.4 billion kgs. In Poland, Italy,and France stock is higher. For pears there was a record stock of 150 million kgson May 1, 2016. Trade enterprises in the Netherlands are hindered by the largeamount of apples and pears on the European market. It is very difficult to sellthe produce, in addition to the low prices.
Consumption
Soon after the boycott had started, a lot of media attentionwas directed to increased consumption of apples and pears in the Netherlands.Together with a low prices (price reduction actions in retail), this led to ahigher consumption of apples and pears in the Netherlands. In many other EUcountries the consumption increased as well. The increase in consumption wastemporary, however.
The Dutch consumer bought 16 percent more Elstar apples in the season 2014/2015 (Sept- Aug), as well as 16 percent more Conferencepears, with a severe increase in September to December. In season 2015/2016,the consumer clearly bought less top fruit in the first few months (Sept - Dec2015) than in the previous season: 13 percent less Conference pears and 13percent less Elstar apples. In the first quarter of 2016 more was invested inpromotion, thus increasing sales. This trend was noticeable in several EUcountries.
Source: Fresh Produce Centre