He added that the Association is also thinking about exporting to India and North African countries, but those markets do not purchase too much fruit. Another idea is to start exporting to other Gulf countries, which are very demanding in terms of qualitative conditions.
Growers are also optimistic about the Chinese market. "It seems that China's economic growth will boost apple consumption volumes this year. Exports to China are falling because a large part of the country's production is sold domestically. We hope that soon the Chinese will have to resort to imports. We have recently submitted our application to the Chinese government for permission to export apples. We want to be one of the first countries to establish a cooperation with China in the apple market," emphasised Mirosław Maliszewski.
At the beginning of July, Minister Marek Sawicki met with China's Ambassador Xu Jian. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss mutual relations, particularly trade in agro-food products. The Ambassador assured that the Chinese authorities would be informed about the interest of Polish producers to export apples and frozen berries to China, as well as other products.
It it worth noting that, according to the Central Statistics Office, Polish apple exports in 2013 totalled 1.188 million tonnes, most of which were purchased by Russia, which received 677.2 thousand tonnes, followed by Belarus, where 145.1 thousand tonnes of apples were exported. Significant volumes were also shipped to countries such as Ukraine, France, Germany, Romania and Kazakhstan.
Source: portalspozywczy.pl
