Germany: Nieder Elbe: Apple season going well

"The apple season 2011/2012 is going well. At the end of the season around 280,000 tonnes of apples will have been sold in the fruit growing area Nieder Elbe", says dr. Matthias Görgens, Vice Director of the fruitcultivation testing station Jork. The price is slightly lower than last year, which is due to the very good harvest in other cultivation areas such as the Bodenmeer.

Especially loved among the consumers are the apple varieties Elstar and Red Prince, a Jonagold type. Sixty percent of the total apple cultivation area in Neder Elbe is used for growing the varieties Elstar and Jonagold. In total around 40 kinds of apples are grown, from sweet to sour and from juicy to crunchy. The ten most loved kinds grow on 90% of the total cultivation area. The exotics that are grown on the other 10%, have new comers such as Kanzi among their ranks. During taste tests with consumers this apple was found tastier than the favourite at the moment, the Elstar. The fruit growers will certainly take heed of this result and extend the cultivation of the new variety. The Braeburn, which is loved by consumers at the moment, belonged to the exotics a few years ago. But now the variety takes up almost 10% of the apple cultivation area in NederElbe.