The selling season has been over for Fruitbedrijf Morren for some time now. While the apples were sold almost immediately, the pears were marketed until the New Year. "That is quite early, but if there is demand, then of course I sell," says Bert Morren of the eponymous fruit company from Kortenaken. "Heading into the next season, the trees look good, but apples can easily turn sour in a year."
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Despite there being quite a lot of quality variation on the market until the turn of the year, he generally looks back on the season with satisfaction. "For me, the season went well. I had very little drop-out in pears. During the hot days, I did see a yellow pear here and there, but we removed them immediately during picking," Bert explains. "I thought those would go flat in storage anyway. By sorting them out straight away, you prevent them from causing problems later on. In the end, it was not too bad because of that."
"Still, I hear here and there that other growers did face more drop-outs. Sales slowed down for a while, and some batches had flat pears. Sometimes this was because they were picked too late, but it also happened with pears that were picked on time. This is mainly due to the warm weather and the sun during picking. There is actually not much you can do about it. It could still cause problems in the coming months, but you can see that people here prefer to sell the pears quickly anyway."
Possible turn year for apples
At Fruitbedrijf Morren, however, attention is already shifting to the new season, with the trees growing strongly after a period of pleasant, warm weather. "We have almost finished pruning in the orchard. With the pears, things are looking good for now. I think there are quite a few flower buds present. With the apples, I do not dare say yet. That seems a bit more variable. Last year, of course, we had a big apple harvest. As a result, I expect that some plots will enter a so-called turn year this year. That is something you see more often with apples. After a year with a heavy harvest, production can be somewhat lower the following year."
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That is not so pleasant for a grower, of course, but for the market it might bring some relief. "At the moment, I hear from colleagues that the apple price is not good. This season, there were, and still are, many apples on the market, which puts strong pressure on prices. If there are fewer apples this year, prices could benefit, which might help the market recover somewhat. In any case, it remains a matter of waiting and seeing."
And the same applies to pears, of course. "So far, things look good there as well. But ultimately, we still have to see how the season develops. It is still early in the year, and a lot can still happen. You can already see green parts on the trees now, which is actually very early for early March. Because of the warm weather, the trees are sprouting faster. That also brings a risk, because it can still freeze. At the moment, there is nothing to worry about, but frost later in spring remains a danger, especially if the trees have developed faster. It is sometimes a little uncertain, but that is part of the life of a fruit grower."
Own shop
In addition to cultivation, the company also has its own farm shop. "There, we sell various products that we make ourselves. For instance, we produce apple juice from our own apples and also apple-pear juice. For those products, we only use fruit from our own farm. We also sell other regional products, such as gingerbread, biscuits, and honey. The honey comes from our orchard, but it is produced by a beekeeper. The gingerbread and biscuits come from other local producers in the area. This also has the advantage that we can keep the shop running even when our own fruit has already been sold. This way, customers can still find a year-round supply."
For more information:
Bert Morren
Fruitbedrijf Morren 
Groenstraat 6
3470 Kortenaken, Belgium
Tel: +32 474 76 46 69
[email protected]
www.streekproductenmorren.be
