Plums have not had an easy time of it in recent years. Between frost and heat in Europe, the available volumes fluctuated in almost all growing countries. Jan Gütinger from the fruit traders bearing the same name has specialised in the import of Bosnian plums, among other things, with contract cultivation and his own local cultivation areas. He had big plans for this year, but the Corona-virus could put a stop to his plans.
"This season I wanted to increase my import volume from the 760 tonnes of plums imported last year. Now I have to wait and see how the situation develops," he says. "There have also been hailstorms in the plantations, but the biggest problem now is logistics. Hopefully the measures can be relaxed in mid-June so that I can fly to Bosnia myself and get an overview of the situation". There had also been frost damage to plums and cherries in Germany - normally a good prerequisite for imported goods from Eastern Europe.
All in all, the Corona-virus had a mixed effect on Gütinger's business: "Sales at the booth are crazy, and even at the wholesale market it has felt like Christmas for weeks. We are seeing about a third more sales compared to last year." Restaurants and office fruit sales, on the other hand, had slumped.
The prices in the trade are still quite high: "With the warm weather and the arrival of large quantities of fruit and vegetables, both domestic and imported, prices will slowly fall. We'll see how this summer develops."
On Monday, the first cherries from Turkey will arrive at Gütinger's. The demand is already quite good, considering that there are not yet large volumes of cherries available, he says: "Turkey is very strong when it comes to cherries, other countries of origin find it hard to keep up anyway. What makes things worse for Spain is that the plants have suffered from frost this year. In the future, Bosnian and Serbian cherries are on the agenda: "This expansion of my import activities will now be somewhat delayed, not least because of COVID-19."
For more information:
Jan Gütinger
Fruchtgroßhandel Jan Gütinger
Eschenweg 16
78604 Rietheim-Weilheim
Tel: +49 (0)7424 / 93 13 480
Mobile: +49 (0)172 / 138 00 78
E-Mail: info@fruchtgrosshandel.net
Web: www.fruchtgrosshandel.net