Despite availability of Polish apples, the European markets aren't running very hot for them, as there are cheaper alternatives, says Jakub Krawczyk, export manager for Polish apple exporter Appolonia: "Apples are still available for export, mostly Golden, Red Jonaprince, Idared, Jonagold, but the thing is that western countries from the EU are not ordering large volumes from us, because either they still have their own apples, or they can buy cheaper apples like from Portugal or Italy. I think this situation could last until the very end of our season, because at the current moment, we just don't fit into certain markets that we usually export massive volumes to."
The export season for longer transit is basically over, according to Krawczyk, which means the focus of Appolonia is on the European territories. "I would not risk sending apples for a long distance right now. At the moment, we're exporting apples mostly to the southern countries of Europe as well as Belarus, as this market has been opened for Polish apples since the 1st of April. However, we also export a little bit to Germany and the Nordic countries. Meanwhile, our domestic market needs big volumes, and before Easter Holidays, that demand has increased."
Krawczyk emphasizes that prices for apples at the growers are very high. So high in fact, that some traders are not making their money back from procuring the apples in the first place: "Prices are still on a quite high level and as always, there is a big demand for the apples that are in very low quantity this season, which are the small calibres apples of 60/70mm. We've also observed something that wasn't really seen last year; the price for apples that we can sell to Polish supermarkets doesn't actually cover the price that growers are asking for apples for sorting. It means many companies are delivering their apples to markets simply because they need to adhere to the contract with the specific market, and they don't earn anything or even lose money. For us, it's also hard to sell to our regular customers when the price of apples is going up very rapidly. It's not a good year for trading, but it's definitely a good year for growers."
Although Poland did have to deal with frost recently, Krawczyk has not seen any damage to the apple orchards that would be worth mentioning. "Today, we haven't noticed any frost damage in our orchards. Yes, we did experience frost for a couple of days, but it did not hurt any of our apple orchards thus far. I'm unable to share information on all of the Polish regions, but at least for our orchards, they're all okay. However, we're only heading into the last week of April, and there are some forecasts for more frost in the coming weekend. Even around the 10th of May, we could still experience heavy frost, so there is no way to completely remove the uncertainty surrounding weather conditions. After that time, it'll also be much clearer how much damage the frost has actually done," he concludes.
For more information:
Jakub Krawczyk
Appolonia
Tel: +48 785 342 930
Email: [email protected]
www.appolonia.pl
