Thanks to strong exports to Serbia and Belarus, Poland was able to reduce its supply of dessert apples by 547,000 metric tonnes, or 31% in November and December. In the EU as a whole, around 4 million metric tonnes (-4.5% compared to the previous year) were still in storage as of January 1st.
The marketing of Elstar, however, went according to plan. The number of sales and prices of the apple variety most important to Lake Constance were similar to 2015/16. At the same time, a lot of commodities were still available for sale, almost 17,500 metric tonnes in January, while a clear deficit was observed in Europe. Therefore, fixed prices can still be expected.
The marketing of Gala Royal was particularly successful. The dismantling of the stocks took place exceptionally quickly last season. At Lake Constance, for example, sales increased by more than 10% to 8,600 metric tonnes. Additionally, the prices of the previous year remained stable and have shown a clear upward trend for five weeks.
If the decline in the stocks of Elstar, Gala and Braeburn were to continue at this rate, it could also have a positive effect on the demand for Jonagold apples. In particular, the 84% larger supply of Red Jonaprince could be addressed in good time.