According to forecasts from the World Apple and Pear Association (WAPA), Europe will have the largest apple harvest of the decade. Marc Peyres, of the French producer-shipper Blue Whale: "All depends on which varieties we are producing. It will be a key factor even more this coming season."
Marc just returned from Warsaw, where the figures were announced. "The WAPA figures are a bit of an optical illusion. The numbers are important, but if we analyse them a little bit, we understand that the harvest will not be as abundant as expected. It will definitely be a complex season with many exceptional events, such as hot weather conditions, size issues, frost in China and hail storms, but at the end, it will be a normal year in terms of price average."
Fewer apples
The harvest of common varieties in Western Europe is below average. In southern Europe there will be fewer apples, because there were no favourable weather conditions, in spring in particular. Portugal, for example, has been hit by more hailstorms than usual."
"We also have to take into account the quality of the product. In Northern Europe, the conditions are complicated by the hot weather, and there are many small sizes."
Overproduction in Poland
The increase in European production is mainly caused by the big Polish harvest. According to Marc, this does not necessarily cause problems for the countries of Western Europe. "Many of the varieties, of which the Polish production is growing, are not destined for the Western European market. Poland will have a problem with overproduction."
Europe will also benefit from low Chinese production. "For the big international varieties, like Royal Gala, Granny and Fuji, the market situation will be rather favourable."
The Blue Whale Team during Fruit Logistica 2018
Confidence
"Overall, we can offer the same quality as last year. In France we weren’t troubled by the heat wave. Apples are of good quality in terms of sugar and size. To this day, it is a beautiful harvest, and although we are never safe from storms and cold: we are pretty confident. The world market situation is still influenced by things such as the US import tax and the Russian boycott, but it's our job to adapt."
For more information:
Blue Whale SAS
Tel: +33 5 63 21 56 56