“Coming top fruit season won’t be a great year”

“The top fruit now on the trees is looking well, but it’s starting to become a bit tense because of the extremely dry weather. It’s been dry for a while now, and this is reflected in the sizing of the fruit,” says Sven Roosen of Gerrits Fruit. “Despite the good quality, it won’t be a great harvest. We expect a normal harvest, but some regions expect small harvests.”

In Belgium, stocks of apples and pears are practically empty. “Some apples can be found in some places, but these stocks are also reaching their ends. For the new season, this empty market should be positive, but trade is very calm at the moment. Prices are fairly high nowadays, so trade is waiting until prices go down. This isn’t good for early varieties,” Sven says.

The early varieties of Gerrits Fruit will be arriving on the market any moment now. “This is the Delbar apple variety, and the first pears, such as Corina, will be next. We’ll once again have to wait and see what the weather will do. We didn’t have a great season last year either, and we’ll have to wait to see what happens this year,” Sven concludes.