"Belgium: "Pear prices better, quality less"

During the last few weeks it has become apparent that the prices of pears are increasing. This has also been confirmed by Tony Derwael of Bel'export. "Slowly prices are becoming interesting. Now it is somewhat more liveable for the growers, but expenses of course increase when longer storage is required," he mentions. "The problem is that many parcels contain a lot of 'waste', which has to be cleared. As a consequence more goes to processing and the average price is at a lower level. The disadvantage is also that a lot of work is required to sort these volumes and to classify them."

According to him this is not about hail damaged pears. "These have already been removed from the trade. The reason of the lesser quality this season is the weather during the growing period. The pears are not as strong because of the long lasting drought and the early picking. This causes problems now and many surprises in the area of quality."

"Possibly earlier sold out than expected"

"The good parcels on the other hand are more interesting" the trader declares. "The volumes are smaller and the selling price is better, 60 to 65 cents." The exporter is still not sure about the stock of the top fruit. "For many the picture of the stock is not clear. We may well be sold out quicker than expected as a lot is being destroyed. I expect that growers will enter the market quickly with their stock as they are afraid of an even worse quality. As a result prices may decrease again. This week it is expected to remain stable."

"Apples are completely going through a difficult period at the moment" Tony continues. "To-day it is just a little better at the auction, but there is still a lot of apples and I do not think that there will be large price increases.

For more information:
Tony Derwael
Bel'Export
2, Neremstraat
3840 Borgloon - Belgium
Tel +32 12 440 551
www.belexport.com