So far this top fruit season has gone better than the year before. "Yet this is mainly to do with the shortages in various production countries. During the hail at the end of June 2016, Belgium had a lot of damage in the fruit cultivation. The apple harvest in particular was strongly reduced due to this. This is why we left in October with around 30% less in storage. This took away the pressure and the sales before Christmas were therefore slow," says Tony Derwael of Bel'Export.
India - competition
This year a new market was added, which the Belgian received with open arms. "At the end of January, over a month earlier than last year, India entered the market as a welcome guest. The first harvest of Red Prince and Jonagold sold particularly quickly. They are looking for nice red coloured apple varieties there and we offer them here." Belgium isn't the only supplier in India. "Due to the competition with the United States there is now a reasonable amount of pressure on the market in India and there is fear of oversupply. Washington has 30% more red apple in stock this season. This is why those in Belgium are very careful with loading; when the sky starts to close there is still fear for a difficult end to the season. The US isn't the only competitor in India. China also supplies to this country. We have competitors all over the world, both inside and outside Europe. He concludes: "This proves once again that we have little say over apples here in Belgium, despite leaving with 30% less in storage!"
12 million tonnes of apples
He emphasises that the top fruit sector shouldn't panic. "But we do have to be realistic. Less was harvested this year, because there were negatively impacting weather conditions in various production countries. We had a harvest of around 12 million tonnes in the 28 EU countries and that really is the limit. It could easily have been around 15 million tonnes, but thankfully this didn't happen. It's the same story in pears, a lot more could have been harvested if all had gone well."
Disaster if nothing is done
How does the sector view the next season? Are they hoping part of the harvest drops out in certain countries? "It might be tough to say but it will be a disaster if nothing happens. We can't sell a normal good harvest. We have India as a new market, but Washington doesn't want to lose that market either. There are also a few new markets that are receiving real volumes." Will this problem remain over the coming seasons? "I don't know everything that will happen, but it's possible that another important buyer will be endangered: the United Kingdom. I expect little of Brexit to be felt this season. We may have to pay tax to export next season, which will certainly influence the trade. We hope to be able to sell all of our volumes over the coming seasons."
For more information:
Tony Derwael
Bel'Export
Neremstraat 2
3840 Borgloon - Belgium
Tel +32 12 440 551
www.belexport.com
belexport@belexport.com