According to the annual report of the Observatory of Fruita Fresca de Catalunya ,9% less apples were consumed and 2% less pears. However, minor fruit consumption grew, 20% for cherries and 26% for apricots.
The reason for this decline: the crisis. According to the head of the Surveillance Department Tècnic i de Vigilància de Mercats de Afrucat, Elisenda Casals, "people often buy, cheap and small amounts due to the crisis."
But even though fresh pear and apple consumption has dropped in Catalan homes,
production increased. In Lleida, peach, nectarine and pear production increased,
but apple production fell slightly, in Girona.
This increase in production resulted in increased fruit exports, for example 41% for peach, 35% for nectarines, 63% for pears and 67% for apples.
However, this increase in production was also a decrease in price. In fact, the Catalan fruit sector, and especially the peach and nectarine, was affected by the price crisis that started in late June 2011 due to oversupply, contraction in consumption and the E. coli food crisis.
Regarding the quality of the fruit in 2011, there was no frost and hailstorms only affected crops locally, while the wind did affect negatively the quality of pears. On the other hand, they emphasized the improvement size, especially in apples and pears, and the excellent colour of Gala apples.
Source: Lamanyana