Last week on Thursday, the top fruit prognoses were presented during Prognosefruit in Alden Biesen, Belgium. The European pear harvest, at 2,047,000 tonnes, is expected to be 14 per cent lower than last year and nine per cent lower than the average of the past three seasons.
Helene Deruwe
Helene Deruwe of WAPA looked back on the previous pear season, when the actual production figures were only one per cent higher than the prognosis. Pear stocks were a bit low in July, but they were still higher than in the two previous years.
“This year, Italy’s expecting far fewer pears than last year. It’s expected 30 per cent fewer pears will be harvested in that country. Besides, France expects 14 per cent fewer pears, Belgium expects ten per cent fewer pears and the Netherlands expects six per cent fewer pears. Spain, on the other hand, expects four per cent more than last year,” Helene said.
“For pears, we expect the second-lowest harvest of the past ten years. We’re seeing a decrease in all important pear producing countries in Europe except Spain. The decrease is caused by the declining acreage and various weather conditions including hail, frost and warm and dry weather,” Helene concludes.
Abate Fetel vs Conference
“At the moment, we still have a low European stock and the overseas season is nearly over. The current prices for summer pears are higher than normal,” said Helwig Schwartau of Ami about the current situation. “The Conference growers and traders in the Benelux are fairly relaxed, and they’re wondering if they even still need Russia. Because of the lower Abate Fetel harvest, the question arises as to which country's Conference can profit from this.”
Although Abate Fetel has been the most popular pear in Germany for years, Conference is working on catching up. In recent years, Conference’s market share more than doubled to 27.2 per cent, while Abate Fetel’s market share is 28.1 per cent.
“Don’t forget to sell”
“We expect a good start for the summer pears because of the low stocks. Sizes of Conference will be larger than last year as well, and they’ll have a better shelf life. There’s a basis for a good season, although people shouldn’t be too excited about prices, and they shouldn’t forget to sell,” Helwig concluded.