Price wins out over quality towards the end of the apple season. This is Tony Derwael's conclusion on the current state of affairs. "The situation is of course generally known, but due to inflation we see that people are increasingly looking for cheaper options. There is a shift from more expensive (club) varieties to apples like Jonagold. That could be an advantage in the coming months," said the Bel'Export trader.
The team from Bel'Export and New Green at the past Fruit Logistica
Still, according to Tony, this does not mean that we are already shifting towards a positive apple market. "Prices are starting to improve, but consumption leaves something to be desired. Where consumption 20 years ago was 12 kg per capita, today it is even lower than already thought at 6.8 kg. That has almost halved and does raise concerns for the future. Indeed, European stocks are not such that prices should be bad. With the situation 20 years ago, we would now be running a good season. Prices would be going up by 5 cents every week."
And so, the trader argues, the pain point lies mainly with lagging consumption. "The question is how can we get it up? I don't know either. There is a lot of competition from other fruits, but these are also expensive. Apples are the cheapest option on the shelf compared to imported citrus and exotics, but people don't reach for them like they used to."
Qualitatively, however, things are looking pretty good for Belgian supply. "In the Netherlands, we see that the Elstar does not cope well with the heat. It is a softer apple and I have the idea that many have been roasted on the trees. Those don't store well and I actually expected the same for the Jonagold. However, I am not at all disappointed. You always have an expectation when you open the cell, but it didn't disappoint me. Together with the Golden, they can still surprise. It is the same situation as we see with the pears. The more expensive ones sell the hardest. Smaller ones sell best. There are also a lot of these. Moreover, the Jonagold and Golden are varieties that always come at the end. Last year, this was a disadvantage because of the emerging geopolitical situation. Almost 10 per cent had to be thrown away, but this year it should be quite possible to get rid of everything with the current stocks and sales."
And so Tony does have an optimistic feeling towards the end of the season. "Maybe I am the only one in Europe, but with a normal harvest in the southern hemisphere, the focus is also moving more and more towards other markets like Asia and the Middle East and away from the ailing European market," he says. With last season's poor memory still fresh in our minds, few European importers will be inclined to import large volumes of apples anymore, which in turn could be an advantage for our local apples ."
For more information:
Tony Derwael
Bel'Export
Neremstraat 2
3840 Borgloon - Belgium
Tel +32 12 440 551
belexport@belexport.com
www.belexport.com