Last week, as usual, the apple and pear harvest estimates were presented at Prognosfruit 2020. According to Gerard van den Anker, these figures offer a healthy perspective for both growers and consumers. Gerard is the chairman of the Dutch Fruit Growers Organisation (NFO).
"The consumption of healthy food, particularly fruit, has generally increased significantly. That's since the coronavirus pandemic broke out. Sales are now at a constant level. The coronavirus isn't gone yet. So, consumers want to keep working on their resistance. The European apple harvest's also somewhat smaller, and pear production was average. These combined factors offer a good outlook for growers," Van den Anker says.
"Farmers had to deal with very volatile weather conditions. That varied from night frost to the current heat. That resulted in large yield differences. But, also an excellent, tasty crop. The previous apple harvest was sold on time. There's also less pressure from the Southern Hemisphere. That, therefore, certainly offers a perspective of good yield prices. That how it should be. Growers' average prices must rise sharply if we want to keep Dutch fruit farming going."
"When it comes to apples, you have to keep an eye on Poland. They are the largest EU producer. But, there too, the harvest wasn't huge. Quite a lot was lost to damage. We also see that the Polish market is developing significantly. It's becoming more of a Conference pear sales market for us," adds the chairman.
"Last year, Italy suffered great losses with its Abate Fetel pears. There will be more of these this year, especially in the German-language markets. On the other hand, the consumption of our Conference pears has increased considerably in these very markets. We'll continue to put a great deal of effort into this, with promotions in those countries. That's resulted in the Conference - a relatively unknown pear - getting a valued spot on shelves. We could, after all, grow for Asia. But, it would be a shame if we didn't take advantage of the opportunities in our neighboring countries."
A discussion developed on social media in recent weeks too. This was under growers about the need to make harvest estimates public. According to Gerard, not disclosing this is out of the question. "It's a European obligation to publish these figures. Even if we don't participate in this, there'll be harvest forecasts.
"So, we'd rather have our ear to the ground. We prefer to offer figures that are as realistic as possible. These reflect the farmers' perspective too. These, of course, always remain snapshots. But, I've looked at the last ten years' figures. I think it's an achievement that the amount picked doesn't deviate much from the estimates," Gerard concludes.
For more information:
Gerard van den Anker
NFO
Email: ganker@hetnet.nl
Website: www.nfofruit.nl