Apples: High prices along the value chain
A comparison of prices from October to January with the prices of previous years shows the rise in the three major apple varieties Gala, Braeburn and Golden Delicious. The effective wholesale prices for Swiss apples collected by the BLW since 2015 show an increasing price trend from October to December. They remain at a higher level in January than the average of the previous two years: +24% (Braeburn), + 14% (Gala) and + 16% (Golden).
Higher prices in retail trade as well
Swiss retail prices have also risen from October to December. Gala and Braeburn apples continue to see prices rise to 4.02 CHF/kg - 4.11 CHF/kg (3.49-3.57 euros) in January, while the price of Golden declines slightly. This means that January prices in the retail sector are between 7% (Golden) and 21% (Braeburn) higher than the average of the previous two years.
A comparison with the monthly prices of previous years shows that among the three apple varieties, going back to the year 2010/11, no such high retail prices were observed as between October 2017 and January 2018. Thus, the exceptionally high harvest losses led to noticeable price increases, going all the way to the consumer.
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Source: BLW