NFO reports that in recent weeks, the Polish fruit production news has been dominated by reports about the low prices and the bad situation the sector finds itself in. Last week, fruit growers protested at three juice processing plants in Lublin to enforce higher prices. They’re demanding a compensation of at least 0.35 zloty (8 euro cent) per kilogram of apples.
A lot of attention is also paid to the dire situation among fruit growers on social media. On Facebook, one fruit grower wrote a message that he was forced to dump his apples in his orchard, and this was shared more than 2,000 times. He had received word from the juice processor that the price had been adjusted downward even more: from barely 4.5 cent to not even 4 cent per kilo. He decided to stop supplying on the same day, and to dump his apples. In August, prices were at 5 cent per kilo. That was 70 per cent lower compared to prices in August 2017. The prices for cherries, plums and pears for processing are also much lower than last year.
The association of Polish fruit growers is now talking to manufacturers to achieve higher prices. One of the obstacles in the talks is that some factories are owned by Chinese investors. Polish managers then first have to talk to their Chinese owners before negotiations can be continued. Another factor hindering the Polish growers is that apple juice consumption is not increasing globally, but that Polish growers are getting more and more competition from countries such as Moldova and Ukraine. The supply of industrial apples is rising, while the sales market stays the same.
The Polish agricultural council from the Swietokryska province, appealed to EU agricultural commissioner Phil Hogan. The low apple prices aren’t just bad for Polish growers, they’re also a threat to the EU market. The agricultural council argues that EU support measures regarding the Russian boycott remain in effect. This year, 500,000 tonnes of apples should be taken from the market for the production of bio ethanol, for instance. The current system of free distribution isn’t working. Support for new plantings should also be withdrawn, and more support should be given for the construction of new cooling cells.
Despite the many complaints about the malaise in the sector, some growers aren’t afraid to acknowledge blame. On portalspozywczy.pl, Zbigniew Cholyk, chairperson of LubApple, writes: “We’ve learned not to produce 30, but 60 or 80 tonnes per hectare. We have modern orchards with high productions, but we’re not yet able to maintain the fruit well. We have too many apples with bad quality.” Of the 4.5 million tonnes of apples harvested in Poland, only 1.5 million tonnes will be suitable for the fresh market.
Source: NFO