“The French Pink Lady is very popular at the moment. We are struggling to meet the demand,” reports Philippe Jean, sales manager at Cofruid’Oc Méditerranée. The company started marketing the Pink Lady, its main variety, 20 days ago. “Some of our clients still have some stocks from the southern hemisphere, but for a few weeks now, these stocks have been exhausted and everybody wants French Pink Lady apples.”
The partner producers of Cofruid’Oc Méditerranée are located in the Languedoc. Some have already completed their harvest, and others are almost done. Philippe reports that the harvest conditions in the region are decent, and that the Pink Lady has a good coloration this year.
Pedro Da Costa and Philippe Jean
A less dynamic market for the Granny
In Asia, Cofruid’Oc Méditerranée is known for its apples of the Granny Smith variety, marketed under the brand “Tasty Granny”. According to Philippe, the market is less dynamic for the Granny Smith than for the Pink Lady. but still presents a normal activity. “The demand is decent and has accelerated in the past few weeks, since the campaign from South Africa ended. On the European market, there is mostly a good demand from the Netherlands, where we supply the Albert Heijn supermarket chain.”
A new brand
This year, Cofruid’Oc Méditerranée is marketing Story apples for the first time under the brand “Legend”. They are already sold in Thailand and in Malaysia. “It is a sweet apple which meets the demand from consumers in those countries. The departures are interesting.” Besides the Asian market, the company launched the apple on the French wholesale markets, where customer feedback is also positive.
Cofruid’Oc Méditerranée planted many orchards of Legend apples, and in the coming years, volumes will increase strongly. For this campaign, the company will market the apple until February. In the coming years, it hopes to sell the apple until May or June.
Philippe explains that the Legend apple is a bicolor variety which keeps very well. It should not be picked too early or too late, so it can reveal its flavors and keep in good conditions.
Philippe concludes that for other varieties, the situation on the market is not simple. “The offer is large. In France, there are a lot of small Gala apples, and for the Golden, the market is not dynamic. For the Braeburn, the situation is quite complicated as well. As far as export is concerned, there is some local offer, as well as from Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. This complicates export, but it is a normal situation for this time of year.”
For more information:
Cofruid’Oc Méditerranée
Phone: +33 (0)4 67 91 90 15
philippe.jean@cofruidoc.fr
www.cofruidoc.com