“Everyone knows this year's top fruit market is something to cry about. We are, however, also afraid it will not improve this year. Everyone hopes it will, but the forecasts are still not great," say Wendy Bangels and Tim Pittevils of the Belgian company, BP Fruitcraft.
“What we can feel good about at the moment, is the new harvest's growth season. When we look at the flowers, we see nice, strong blossoms. This means we will get large pears. The pear sizes were a letdown this season. So, we hope to have nice, large pears next season. This is the start of it."
Tim Pittevils and Wendy Bangels
There are various reasons for the dismal top fruit sector. Wendy is, however, convinced that most of the problems were not caused by overproduction. The poor quality was the main culprit. "We did see good quality pears. But, unfortunately, there were quite a lot of bad pears on the market," he says.
"These pears caused clients to lose trust in the product. The good quality pears also suffered because of this." Something has to be done on a political level. "Something should have been done, years ago already, about how apples and pears are marketed. There is a lot of talk, but nothing comes of it. There are now a lot of growers already teetering on the brink. They cannot take anymore."
Wendy and Tim were born and bred in the fruit sector. They, therefore, understand the position in which the growers currently find themselves. "It is awful to see how some farmers have to sell their businesses. These have been in the family for many years. That is exactly why we started BP Fruitcraft."
"We are not a traditional trading company. We are the link between the grower and the trader. We work with annual prices and sell on contract as much as possible. By doing so, we can offer growers certainty. This is, undoubtedly, of great value in times like these," the men conclude.
For more information:
Wendy Bangels
Tim Pittevils
BP FruitCraft
16A Heer Street
3470 Kortenaken, BL
Work: +32 (0) 470 951 032
Tel: +32 (0) 470 957 905
wendy@bpfruitcraft.com
tim@bpfruitcraft.com
www.bpfruitcraft.com