The difficult Turkish apple season has resulted in higher demand for Polish apples this season, says Emilia Lewandowska, office manager for Fruit-Group: "Our season has been very stable overall, without major disruptions related to raw material shortages. Recently, we've seen an increased demand for the Red Chief variety. We assume this is connected to lower harvest volumes in Turkey this year."
© Nick Peters | FreshPlaza.com
According to Lewandowska, the biggest challenge this season was planning the sales of specific varieties at the right moment. "Between October and December, the demand for Gala apples was very high, especially from distant export markets. However, the quality of Gala in autumn was mixed. Some fruit had hail or frost damage, which made it difficult to find attractive batches suitable for long-distance export. In our estimation, during that period we could have shipped around 30 percent more product to overseas markets if we had had access to the right quality of raw material."
The Polish apple season has been plagued by lower quality for certain varieties, making export to long-distance markets more difficult, Lewandowska explains: "At the beginning of the 2025/2026 season, we were already aware that there would be certain quality limitations, and as a result, we expected long-distance exports to decline. Currently, Gala exports to those destinations are decreasing as fruit from the Southern Hemisphere has entered the market. This year, Golden apples in Poland are mostly green-yellow in color. Some markets prefer this color, while others expect a distinctly green Golden. For those clients, it is more challenging to source the exact color they require."
"Further exports to distant markets will depend mainly on how well the fruit holds up in storage. If the quality allows it, individual shipments may still be sent to those markets in April, although the overall trend will likely be decreasing. For the European market, we expect to continue supplying fruit until the end of the season, which is typically around June or July," Lewandowska concludes.
For more information:
Emilia Lewandowska
Fruit-Group SP.z.o.o.
Email: [email protected]
www.fruitgroup.pl
