“Excellent apple market but pear market’s stagnating”

"The apple market is particularly good," says Hans van Dodewaard of Veiling Zaltbommel, a Dutch cooperative. He's involved in things like mediating between top fruit growers and buyers. Hans states that, at the end of September, the pear market was stagnating. He attributes this to factors like the hot August. This meant pears were sometimes too ripe at the time of harvesting. So, they couldn't be stored for a long time. They were, therefore, immediately put on the market. But Hans is fairly optimistic about the pear market's further development. 

"I'm very hopeful, especially for the apple market. There are a few more pears in the Netherlands and Belgium. But in the rest of Europe, the levels are quite normal. So, I hope Dutch fruit farming will have another good run." Van Dodewaard says apples are selling very well. At the end of September, Jonagold apples were being auctioned at between €1,25 and €1,40. Apples, in general, reached more than €1,00/kg at auction.

When growers are busy harvesting apples, there's less time to sort them. That makes for limited supplies. A lot of pear trees, but fewer apple trees, have been planted in recent years. That's contributed to the apple prices. "That's paying off now. There are fewer apples throughout Europe this year due to frost damage. They're currently performing pretty well financially," says Hans.

He doesn't rule out the possibility that the favorable apple prices could lead to a renewed focus on apples. That might lead to more planting. Many new apple varieties are coming onto the market. "There will be so many new varieties that we'll hardly see the wood for the trees. Will we be able to distinguish between good and not-so-good varieties?" Hans doesn't expect there to be room for all these new apple varieties. Some will quickly disappear again, he concludes.