The first apples from New Zealand arrived in Europe later than expected, due to bad weather. “We had a lot of rain during the picking period, but this has had no influence on production and harvest estimates so far. This season, a record harvest is expected in New Zealand. Estimates are currently at 21,600,000 TCE (18-kilogram trays), 11 per cent higher than last year,” says Tony Fissette from Enzafruit. “A very large harvest is headed our way.”
During the first week of April, Enzafruit started with Cox, and the first Smitten arrived this week. “Fewer Cox apples will be sent to Europe in total this year. We have a one-month programme with Smitten, in April. Royal Gala will start arriving in the third week of April. The first Jazz apples for the European market will arrive early May. That’s also when we finish the European season, so the New Zealand season closely connects to that. In Europe, a similar volume of Jazz is expected as last year, the surplus will go to Asia and the UK.”
Figures
It is expected that seven million packages of Royal Gala from New Zealand will be exported, which is five per cent more than last season. Jazz and Pink Lady will have 16 per cent more volume destined for export. Envy exports will increase by 32 per cent. A Braeburn export increase of six per cent is expected, and an increase of 26 per cent of Queen from New Zealand. It is expected that the same amount of Royal Gala will be sent to Europe as last year. This strain will be sent to Asia and the Middle East more. For Envy, the main destinations are Asia, the US and the Middle East. Not much of this strain will be sent to Europe. The New Zealand Queen is also entirely for other markets such as the Middle East and the US. Fuji mostly has Asia as a destination as well.
Pink Lady
“The European harvest is expected to be available until June. Sixteen per cent more Pink Lady from New Zealand will be sent to Europe. In any case, more of this strain will be sent to Europe from various countries in the Southern Hemisphere.”