Belgian fruit growing sector in dire straits

Because of frost in spring, a much smaller apple harvest is expected in Belgium. “This year could still be a good season regarding prices. For apples I expect everything will be sold before March or April. It could now still be positive, but we’re very worried for the coming years. The production of apples and pears continues to increase, and that could turn out to be disastrous.”

The Belgian top fruit sector has had it difficult for years. Many producers are still affected by the Russian boycott, because they were very dependent on those buyers. How are growers facing the future? Primeur interviewed chairman Tony Derwael and vice-chairman Jos Claes from cooperative New Green. They indicate that the top fruit sector is in much difficulty at the moment. “It started with the boycott, and we haven’t had good years since. Many growers find it difficult to keep afloat. But we try to stay positive.”

The cooperative New Green was founded by 23 fruit growers from the region of Borgloon and its direct surroundings just over the language boundary in 2008. In 2009, they worked 445 hectares and produced 17 million kilos of fruit. Nowadays, the co-op has 73 growers, of which about 60 are active at any given moment. Together, they are good for 1,000 hectares, two million trees and 40 million kilos of apples and pears, about 200 million pieces of fruit. In 2011, New Green obtained official European acknowledgement as producer’s organisation, and since then they started their own operational programme. The operating costs are carried by Europe.

Jos: “New Green was founded because the Belgian fruit auctions kept us out too much. The GMO subsidies they received from the government was not all used for the producers. We felt like they were using us, because we had to contribute a certain percentage as well, which was quite high.” They do things differently with New Green. “Growers don’t have to contribute, we have GMO money for that. It’s an exception in difficult years, because otherwise we couldn’t get by.” Why don’t more growers choose this cooperative? “The contracts with the auction are entered into for five years, so many growers are tied by that. Besides, they often also have shares in cold stores that are worth much. When you end contracts like that, you stand to lose much money. I know many growers are unhappy with the auction, but they can’t leave. By the way, we never personally approached growers, they always contacted us. A major advantage of being producers ourselves is that we understand each other, and we use their money responsibly. Additionally, we try to achieve the best price. That can sometimes be difficult in longer periods of low prices. We regularly enter into long-term agreements about prices, and we don’t believe in clock-prices. They have been wrong for years now. The Belgian fruit sector should operate more fairly.” 

New Green supplies nearly all of its fruit to Bel’Export. “This year, they’ll once again export to various countries in and outside of Europe. New Green is also open to other traders and retailers in Belgium.” In future, Jos sees opportunities for organic and residue-free cultivations. “As a growers association you need to continue being distinctive in supply, and that’s why we invest in these kinds of things. Besides, we want to be distinctive qualitatively, and we regularly counsel our growers. And finally, we’ll expand our assortment. Many growers are interested in producing small fruit. Additionally, wine growing is also becoming more and more popular.”

There have been various ups and downs in top fruit. “One example is 1992, which was a bad year, kilos of fruit only got a few cents. The year 1996, however, was a great year for pears. It has been good for pears until 2000. Pears were sold for 1.20 a pallox. In the 2009/10 season, there was another crisis in the apple cultivation. Pears haven’t had great years anymore either. The superb years for pears are over.” Tony indicates that a solution to the crises is to work together, and for growers to join growers associations. “That way, you retain some control over the market. There are now still many free growers, and speculation regularly occurs. There’s no transparency at all anymore if growers start to trade freely.”

Russia was the most important buyer of Belgian top fruit. “Naturally, we want to look for new markets, but that’s easier said than done. I visited various countries, including China,” Tony says. “Some volumes are sent that way, but it’s not an easy market. Last year, 12 million kilos of pears were sent to China. That’s nothing compared with a harvest of 370 million kilos. China is very innovative. Before you know it, they’ll be producing their own Conference. When they see a certain product is successful, they’ll start to personally invest in it as well. Besides, Asians have a certain flavour pattern that can’t be changed.”