Despite a later harvest, the coloration of some apple varieties will be less intense than usual, says Jakub Krawczyk, export manager for Polish apple exporter Appolonia: “Harvesting of apples started a little later in Poland, because we had some hot days and warm nights. This resulted in a delay of the apple harvest of about one to two weeks. Not every variety achieved a good colour, but we needed to pick them from trees, because if we waited any longer for colour, the apples would not be suitable for long storing. This means that varieties like Champion or Red Jonaprince don’t have such an intense colour as they usually would, so customers need to be aware of that, this year.”
Now that the picking of apples is about finished, Krawczyk can confirm that volumes are lower this season, while prices are higher. “Harvesting is coming to an end and now we can say there are less apples, especially for Jonagored, Red Jonaprince, Ligol and Idared. The quantities and quality of Gala Royal and Golden Delicious are quite good this year and those varieties should be among our company’s most exported varieties. The price of industry apples is quite high, which is very good information for the producers. Prices for fresh apples are also higher than they were at the start of last season. Production costs hit everybody so hard, that there is just no way that apples could be cheap. Some growers are choosing to sell their apples for the industry, rather than sell them for sorting, because it’s more profitable.”
These higher prices are very much needed, as input costs are higher as well. However, some Polish apple exporters are putting these prices under pressure, Krawczyk explains: “Unfortunately we are receiving info from the market that many Polish producers are offering their apples for quite low price, and according to our cost calculations, that price is too low. Our company is always trying to put all effort to get the best quality of apples, which many customers admit that our quality is high and they are satisfied, but it all goes with additional costs. I think that some producers should re consider their selling prices because costs of production are still very high.”
Krawczyk states that although unusual at this point in the season, demand is already very strong from all over the world. “There has been big demand from Indian customers, who wanted to load our apples as fast as possible. I’ve never seen such interest for our products, mostly Royal Gala, before. Lots of containers are already on the way to Asia, so the first shipments should arrive soon. For us, the European market was always very successful, but many countries are still waiting to import apples from us. The South American market is looking quite good, they have ordered some quantities from Poland already. It’s the second year we are exporting there, and so far all was ok. We hope that more countries from SA will open a protocol for Polish apples and that destination will grow in coming years.”
Ecuador and Brazil could become the next target for the export of Polish apples, Krawczyk emphasizes: “We’re currently working to prepare all the required procedures for export to Ecuador, but we also look forward to doing business with countries like Brazil, which could be also very good market for our apples in the future. If there are some companies that want to import our apples to Brazil, they can contact us and we can try to open the protocol for that market together.”
“I think we packed more Gala Royal in containers than ever before at this point of the season. Some customers are waiting for Red Jonaprince and Red Delicious to ship, which we’ll start with soon. For export, Golden Delicious is the most chosen variety, but mostly for Europe. Many markets also like our Jonagored, Idared and also an alternative for green apples, which is Mutsu. It would be good for us if we could sell some good volumes till end of 2023, specially Royal Gala. We see that price for industry apples is still rising, so it could also affect the final apples price. We just hope that the higher prices will not prevent us from exporting to some of our customers, because not every market can handle these prices.”
For more information:
Jakub Krawczyk
Appolonia
Tel: +48 785 342 930
Email: jakub.krawczyk@appolonia.pl
www.appolonia.pl