Despite lower production, the apple season has started off a bit slow, says Jan Nowakoski, manager of Polish apple distributor Genesis Fresh: “Last season was full of volume of apples and sales were strong as well. All apples found their way to both European markets and new markets overseas. This season, we had 30 per cent less apples compared to last year, but the trade so far has been rather slow. Prices for industry and consumption apples are higher compared to last year and with the economy issues, we are facing a slow start with the season.”
Looking at the year 2023, it had its ups and downs according to Nowakowski, as costs have risen a lot. “We had good quality fruits and we were able to attract new markets for our apples this year. Our clients were also happy with the quality we offered and were able to import some more volume as well. However, the year 2023 also had big challenges. We have very high inflation for the second year in a row. The average level is 15 per cent. The electricity and other maintenance costs have also been higher these last two years.”
Polish apples are finally getting a solid foothold in the South American markets, but there’s more markets to enter on the continent, Nowakowski emphasizes: “Latin American markets are new for Polish apples. For the past four or five years, we have been gaining ground in these markets and it has been a success story. Polish apples are now present in Columbia and Costa Rica, for example. Other new markets are opening or looking to open for Polish apples as well.”
Nowakowski thinks the market situation could change after New Year: “European markets are quite slow due to good volume in the respective domestic markets. We expect that the situation will change after New Year when there will be less fruits in Europe and also on overseas markets. Hopefully, we will have enough apples till the second part of the season. We will need to follow the routes and be flexible to maintain the market trends. With everything in mind, it looks like we will have a stable apple season.”
For more information:
Jan Nowakowski
Genesis Fresh
Tel: +48 223 783 405
Email: info@genesisfresh.com