It’s getting harder to obtain certain varieties in Poland. However, Jakub Krawczyk, export manager for Polish apple exporter Appolonia, states that there are still volumes of Red Jonaprince in the company’s stock.
“With some of the apple varieties it is quite hard to find good quality apples, especially those varieties that weren’t picked during the right time when it comes to harvesting. Many varieties will end faster and a lot of apples we either don’t accept, due to low quality, or are extra careful with and put through additional tests before shipping,” Krawczyk explains. “But fortunately, this wasn’t the case with all of the varieties. There are many varieties that are still okay for export and as such we export these apples all the time. There are still many red apples in the chambers, which we will be able to send up to the end of July or even August. The largest volumes we have in stock are the Red Jonaprince apples.”
In an attempt to lower the increasingly higher energy bills, Appolonia invested in solar energy, Krawczyk says: “The more days apples are spent in your ULO chambers, the larger the energy bill you’re going to have to pay, that much is obvious. We’re trying to decrease our energy bills by investing in solar panels and we need to use more energy during day, when these panels are working. So the larger cost of electricity actually forced us to invest in solar energy at a faster pace, and it has also changed some of our habits for energy usage.”
Demand for apples is lower than it was a few months ago, as more popular summer fruits have hit the market, Krawczyk states. “At this point in the year, apples are not the first fruits customers choose to eat. It’s always like that, when strawberries, nectarines and other summer fruits start to appear, then customers are mostly choosing those fruits. Orders from foreign markets are lower and this will last for some time. In some countries in Western Europe we observed a bigger interest for green apples, but at the moment these varieties are very hard to get, so we are able to supply only a small number of our customers with those varieties.”
“The differences in locations to where we can export compared to the sales six months ago is huge. Right now, most companies are not exporting to overseas destinations, because it’s too late. Six months ago Belarus was closed for our apples, so when we finally could, we immediately started sending shipments there. However, the last three weeks were very quiet in terms of orders. In our opinion the highest intensity of sales is behind us and now companies will send what’s left in stock.”
For more information:
Jakub Krawczyk
Appolonia
Tel: +48 785 342 930
Email: jakub.krawczyk@appolonia.pl
www.appolonia.pl