Click here to see pictures from our recent visit to Bialski Owoc.
"Pretty much all the apple growers were affected one way or another by the weather. We know growers around 20km from our location who had to deal with the effects of a hail storm lasting 30 minutes, with hail stones as big as a 1 euro coin, if not larger. All of this weather has meant that apple prices this year are already double the price they were last season. Some growers have decided to store their apples until around Christmas time, making it difficult for company's like ours to fill the contract orders we have with retailers," shared Marcin Świątek from Bialski Owoc.
Polish traders, along with many others across Europe, get a lot of pressure from the supermarkets for such low prices. Marcin said that he doesn't know how some producers who are agreeing to some of these low prices are making any profit.
"We don't have much of a profit margin in the apple industry. There are a lot of costs keeping the production running, we have to pay our workers, but there are also a lot of costs, such as machinery that come along, sometimes unexpectedly, each year. It's a real problem when other producers are accepting such low prices from retailers because they may not have the storage facilities and need to sell immediately, because they are bringing and keeping the prices way too low for everyone," said Marcin.
Marcin said that the focus needs to be on breaking the stereotype that many across Europe have about Polish apples.
"A lot of Polish growers have improved the quality of their apples over the last 10 years especially, and now they are pretty much as good as apples from competing countries, such as Italy. We also have a few apples with PGI status, just like in South Tirol, however, no matter how good they might be, we can't shake their ideas that Polish apples should be cheaper."
Click here to see more pictures from our recent visit to Bialski Owoc.
For more information:
Marcin Świątek
Bialski Owoc Sp. z o.o.
Tel: +48 533-205-500
Email: m.swiatek@bialskiowoc.com
www.bialskiowoc.com