There's widespread optimism in the Dutch and Belgian apple market. "And rightly so, as prices for both apples and pears are decent," says Emanuel Sluis from the Dutch Trading Platform Service2Fruit. "For instance, top-quality Elstar apples are priced up to €0.90 in the box. These apples are, however, not as firm as expected. The high picking temperature somewhat affected that."
"At the lower quality end, prices are €0.10 to €0.15 lower. Still, compared to previous years, those remain high. Demand for Jonagold apples is strong, too. Prices, especially for future deals, are hovering around €0.60-€0.70. If you have lesser quality products, you'd best part with them quickly because you can still make decent money for those," Emanuel explains.
"The Conference pear season is entering its later stage. The quality varies greatly between batches, and there's slightly more fallout than in other years. Nonetheless, the price range of €0.85 to €0.95 is still considered quite good. There's about a ten-cent difference between the high and low-quality pears. It's good that this extra quality is being rewarded with higher prices."
"Even for slightly inferior products, the price remains good. However, growers expect even higher prices, and I'm unsure if that's entirely justified. Ultimately, the prices of top-quality pears should increase slightly in the long run, but you should be content with the current price levels. The Comice pear season is drawing to a close. The Lukas pear market slumped, but that was after reaching an exceptionally high level. Hopefully, the market will recover after this correction," Emanuel concludes.
For more information:
Emanuel Sluis
Service2Fruit
15A De Ooyen
4191 PB, Geldermalsen, the Netherlands
Tel: +31 (0) 885 321 300
info@service2fruit.com
www.service2fruit.com