And, with slightly lower pricing than last year (which Steensma describes as “phenomenal pricing”), demand is good for the lunch bag staple fruit. “It’s a great item to have on the produce rack in the winter because there’s not a lot of fresh fruit in the stores right now. No cherries to speak of, no peaches or nectarines or melons,” he says.
Countries of competition
While the current competition is domestic apple growers as well as China, Steensma notes that in another six weeks to two months, countries such as Chile and New Zealand will start exporting their apples. “Overseas our main competition is China because they’re a big export apple country and they’re very cheap on their apples,” he says. “Right now, they’re very very competitive though I hear China is going to run out of apples in about three weeks so that’ll take the low end of the market out.” The EU effect
Meanwhile, Steensma also notes the impact of the European Union’s economic sanctions on Russia which were imposed in 2016. “So growers have lost their market into Russia and you’ve got Polish apples shipping all over the world into markets they’ve never seen before, as well as Italian and French apples. They have to find a home for their fruit no matter where because they’ve lost that Russian market,” he says. “But in a few weeks, I would think the Polish and Italian apples will start losing their condition. They don’t have the modern storage we have so, quality wise, we’ll gain more and more of the business.”
For more information:
Randy Steensma
Honey Bear Tree Fruit Co.
Tel: +1-509-663-2625
randy@honeybear-nuchief.com
http://www.honeybeartreefruit.us/