In the pear trade, sales are currently brisk. "Pears are really moving everywhere. You even hear here and there that people are short of sorting capacity," says Arnold Wakker of Service2Fruit. "We are also seeing improvements in quality, and that should benefit the pricing of unsorted lots as well."
"In pear exports, we are not dependent on a single destination, and that is ideal. Southern Europe, for example, has been fully involved in recent years, which was not the case a few years ago. That is quite a contrast with apples, which are still largely sold on the domestic market," Arnold continues.
© Service2Fruit
The price of unsorted Conference pears depends heavily on size. "Batches with a dropout of between 5 and 10 per cent are trading at 62 to 65 cents, the coarser lots between 65 and 70 cents, and for really good pears, prices are already moving towards 75 cents," Arnold explains. He does not expect any major changes in the coming weeks. "Hopefully, more will start to happen in April, when the less long-keeping lots have been cleared, and availability becomes more limited."
The seasons for Doyenné du Comice and Beurré Alexander Lucas have now ended. "That makes it a relatively early end," Arnold notes. "The Comice season was not too bad after sales to processing, partly due to the smaller sizes. Sales of Lucas, on the other hand, were far from disappointing. That does not mean buyers of processing-grade fruit made any real money, but it was not as poor as Conference."
One challenge this season remains the quality of apples. "Hardness and shelf life are not quite where they should be, but that has been the case all season. Unfortunately, there is also little movement in apple sales."
For more information:
Arnold Wakker
Service2Fruit
Mob: +31 (0) 6 54 774 913
[email protected]
www.service2fruit.com
