“We're not magicians,” said Marc Peyres of Blue Whale. “We have a big crop, and though we can send a little more here or a little more there, there's too much fruit to have a good season. Globally, it's complicated, and it will be like that for the next six months.” While exporters look to new or emerging markets to handle the excess volume of fruit that the Russian ban has left them with, the options are slim. Asia takes about 25,000 tons of apples every year, estimates Peyres, and though they can bump that up to about 28,000 tons, it doesn't begin to make up for the 700,000 or so tons of apples that Russia usually takes. While prices for European apples will make them competitive in Asia, it's uncertain how Asian consumers will respond to large quantities of European fruit. With such a situation, only a few people are having decent years.
“If you have some Galas, Fujis, Pink Lady or a variety that sells well locally, then the season is not perfect, but it is okay,” said Peyres. “But if you're stuck with Jonagold Red or a variety that is prevalent in Poland, then it's a very complicated thing.”
The bright spot this season has been an exchange rate that makes it easier for exporters to sell their fruit. With the presence of a large crop from the United States, Peyres noted that, were it not for the current exchange rate, they would have a slim chance of competing with fruit from around that world that is both plentiful and priced low this season.
The processed market offers a way for sellers to unload some fruit from this year's bountiful harvest. The good quality of fruit this year meant that not many apples were sent for processing earlier in the season, but demand from the processing market in foreign markets is healthy. China, in particular, takes a significant amount of apples for processing. But that outlet, like every other outlet this season, cannot make up for the fact that there are too many apples and not enough places to sell them.
“New varieties are easy to sell, but those are of such small quantities,” said Peyres. “We're in a bad part of the business cycle, and we'll just have to see if things change next season.”
Marc concludes: "There is not one solution to manage the big stock, but a mixture of various solutions: new markets, processing, better consumption in Europe with lower prices, longer seasons with an extension of the European season and less import for Europe from the Southern Hemisphere. We need to use all elements in order to face the actual situation."
For more information:
Marc Peyres
Blue Whale
Tel +33 563 215 656
Marc@blue-whale.com
www.blue-whale.com