The top fruit season continues. Most of the supply has already been sold out, although there will certainly still be enough for a few more weeks. According to a Belgian trader, a few things are worth mentioning. "One is the fact that our own Conference pears are more expensive than the Argentinian Anjou. The price per kilo of calibre 66 Anjou pears stands below 1 Euro, while Conference pears of the same calibre reach prices slightly higher than the Euro. This is a peculiar situation that happens very rarely."
Price difference
He said that most supermarkets are gradually moving on to the imported produce. "If customers start massively demanding overseas fruit, Argentina will register a much higher demand. The price that we currently have for the Conference has to do with the smaller volumes. When talking about the 60/65 calibres, the domestic market can still generate a little more revenue; however, I believe that our prices will have to drop again soon."
Apples, Poland
According to the trader, Poland is becoming a remarkable competitor in the apple market. "They are increasingly focusing more on Europe and less on the north. With Russia there are, of course, political issues which are naturally more erratic than the fruit market. If the situation escalates, the apple market is bound to become even tougher, as Poland grows into an increasingly serious competitor. We have many similarities in terms of varieties and they supply good products. They may go a little easier with residue control, but Polish companies are well organised. Naturally, labourers there do not work for free, so in terms of prices, we will perhaps come closer together."
Regarding prices, varieties such as the Greenstar stand at lower levels than last year, when there was a great demand from Russia. Jonagold of the 70/75 and 80 calibres were predicted to do good, which has been the case. Larger calibres did a little worse, and there were more of them, so growers were not in the best position. In general, it has not been the best season for them. "For the next campaign, it remains to be seen what will happen. We have had three night frosts and we are waiting to see what impact this will have."
