The nights of frost have not had any impact for the new Polish apple season. Fruit trees have not yet bloomed, which means they can’t be damaged by cold weather just yet. However, the month of May will be a crucial one, one Polish exporter states. For the current season, there are still a lot of varieties available, as more cold chambers have opened up.
Jakub Krawczyk, export manager for Appolonia states that the demand for Polish apples is still strong this far into the season, but exports have slowed down slightly: “The demand is very solid for peeling apples with customers in the western part of the Europe. We also can’t complain on our domestic market, because the sales go smoothly here as well. Export has slowed down a little bit, as other fruits are seeing the start of their season, as well as apples from the Southern Hemisphere being available on the market, with competitive prices. Our Eastern partners also are not buying large volumes at the moment, we hope it will change soon.”
Although there have been some cold nights in Poland, it’s still too early for the apple trees to be damaged. The month of May will be a crucial one though, Krawczyk explains. “April was quite cold, there was lots of rain and even small spells of snow. There were a few nights of small frost, but we don’t see any damage in our apples orchards as a result of these frosts. Some growers were using water protection during cold nights. The most crucial month in terms of weather would be May, this is when the flowers on trees will appear, which can be damaged by the frost. For the next few days it’s supposed to be warmer, but we will see how the weather is in mid-May.”
Prices have dropped slightly over the past few weeks, according to Krawczyk the opening of more cold chambers is the cause of this small drop: “There was little bit of a drop in the prices, which always pushes sales forward. At the same time more ULO chambers were opened, so more produce was available and more people started to sell their own production, which is good. Although the month April was cold for some time, there were still few sunny days, and if people are going outside they are more likely to buy some snacks, and it’s good they are choosing apples as a healthy snack.”
The end of the season might be near, Appolonia still has a lot of apples in stock. Krawczyk states most varieties are still available. “Right now, we still have Golden Delicious, Red Jonaprince, Jonagored, Idared, Champion, Ligol, Gloster, Red Delicious, so most of the varieties are still available. Gala is either finished or almost finished. However, we do see that not only the best quality apples were stored in ULO chambers, there are also some lower quality apples which we can’t sell as first class apples. For example, apples that were harvested after hail will only be offered as second class or for peeling.”
“At this time of the year the price of apples would usually rise, but this year, it didn’t. The price has been stable for a long time and, since two or three weeks ago, the price has even dropped down little bit. There are still plenty apples to sell, so it should be a busy season going forward. We are certain we will have apples for everybody for the entire season.” Krawczyk concludes.
For more information:
Jakub Krawczyk
Appolonia
Tel: +48 785 342 930
Email: jakub.krawczyk@appolonia.pl
www.appolonia.pl