"There is a sting in the tail of the apple season"

The hard fruit season is off to an extremely late start. The last 10 days have seen the fruit start to arrive. "The whole assortment is available again in differing amounts" explains Zweer van Aalsburg from Fruitmasters. "Jonagold and Elstar have the smallest harvest in four years and the ingredients for a good season are also available. There is already a good demand from Germany. I expect that there will be a sting in the tail of the apple harvest. The apples are rougher and it is still too early to know how well they will keep. When they are gathered and stored if early, like the Elstar was last year, this then leaves room for the Jonagold."

Prices for Elstar are 75 cents, with sorting 85 cents (top quality). For sizes 65 and 70, around 75 cents. The rough sorting 85-90 has fallen to 45/50 cents. "The sizes of Elstar are rougher than last year. It is still too early to say how production will pan out. The pick only really started last week and we found that Elstar has been completed in two rounds."

Pears
The conference pear season is also at full steam. "There is a substantial demand, and the supply is increasing as many of the cells have been plucked. For the Conference I expect until January/February a reasonable market. We see that the size is a little smaller than last season. The quality is generally good. I expect that pears will have a longer season than last year, but that is dependent on how they keep and demand from the market."

"We come from a year of extreme prices at the end of last season for Elstar and Conference. I am optimistic for the coming fruit season. Germany had a smaller harvest of Elstar and Jonagold," said Zweer. He expects that there will always be a good place for Elstar on the Dutch and German market. "However, we must watch that the quality stays at a high level with the presence of Jonagold type varieties again from Poland and growth in the market particularly from overseas and Asia."

For more information:
Zweer van Aalsburg
Fruitmasters
Deilseweg 7
Postbus 222
4190 CE Geldermalsen
Tel: +31345 578 808
www.fruitmasters.nl/