In the months of April and May (week 13 to 20) the supply of the most profitable apple varieties around Lake Constance came to an end. It began with the Braeburn variety. After some cases of internal browning were discovered in late April, the stocks were weeded out thoroughly. This was followed by a timely sale, supported by a number of promotions, so the variety was sold out by late April. The season for Gala Royal ended in a much more relaxed manner at the beginning of this week. The variety has evolved into a sure-fire success and the premium quality fruit sold for an average of 60€/dt, an 8% increase compared to last year.
The variety with the strongest turnover in the last two months though was once again Elstar, which should be out of stock within the next two to three weeks as well. Accordingly, the demand will be shifting to the varieties with abundant supply of Jonagold apples. On May 1st, there was still 24,000 tons of the variety in storage at Lake Constance, more than half of the original supply of around 44,000t, an 11% increase compared to last year. Under normal circumstances this could result in a decrease of prices, especially considering the even bigger deficit in sales at the lower Elbe with 23% less than in the past season. The decrease never happened though and the prices stagnated around 53€/dt (+1,5% compared to last year). Organic apples were sold for net 141€/dt (a 13% increase) at Rampe Wholesalers. The prices stayed strong due to a strong Polish campaign, which meant a decrease of 2% of apples in storage throughout all of the EU. A further reason was the devastating damage inflicted by the late frost which resulted in low volumes of apples in Europe in this season. In Mid-April, large parts of Europe were hit by severe frosts during the nights and intense snowfalls, right at the time of the sensitive flowering of the fruit trees.
Cherry trees were especially affected and so were apple trees depending on how far along the flowering was at the time of the frost. The apple blossoms were at their height at Lake Constance, therefore the producers are expecting major damages. In Poland, which is located further North, only the cherry trees were affected in April. During a later cold snap in Mid-May the apples were hit as well. It is not yet clear how much damage has been done in Europe and it will not be clear until after the fruit drops at the beginning of July. Nevertheless, in the state Baden-Württemberg alone, producers are expecting losses of hundreds of million Euros. One can assume that this will also affect the prices for fruit at the markets. Most of the important cultivation areas raised their prices for apples in week 21. In the area around Lake Constance, though, producers were sticking to their discounts, keeping in mind the limited shelf life of last seasons' apples. Within the current season, 123.500t of apples were sold (+8% compared to the previous season), which resulted in a total turnover of 54,75 Million Euros (an increase of 3%).
Strawberries
The strawberry season at Lake Constance began in week 16 with minimal volumes from tunnel cultivation, selling for 690€/dt. Already, three weeks earlier, the first tunnel berries from the area of Munich were introduced to the market. Due to the cold weather the demand in Germany stayed unusually low, and only a few fruits ripened. Only in Mid-May, just in time for Mother's Day, larger volumes were available and caused first pressure at the market, causing the prices to drop. Starting from week 21, the warm weather began to get things going. The outdoor strawberry season started, although the frost had taken its toll on the volumes for these fruits as well. The LEH began to stock up on German strawberries, which resulted in a deficit in supply. The prices stabilized at approximately 310€/dt in the area of Lake Constance. A further drop of the cost is still possible, if the demand decreases further over the Pentecost holidays, and the northern parts of Germany increase their supply. Up until week 20, only 51 tons of strawberries were sold, which is a 19% drop compared to last year. They achieved a price of around 355€/dt, which is a 9% decrease compared to the previous season.
Source: lel
