Christmas is approaching, and with the New Year just around the corner, the top fruit season is now in full swing. Pears are moving well at BelOrta, too. "But for the beauty of it, a bit more apples could be consumed," says Laurent De Smedt, divisional head of top fruit at the cooperative.
"Pear sales are performing remarkably well at the moment," he notes. "Conference remains the main variety, and the past few weeks have seen intensive grading. Sales are far higher than last year, which is necessary given the larger stock. In fact, more than five million kilos were sold last week, compared to around three million kilos per week last year."
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As a result, demand is coming from all directions. "Italy, Spain, and England are taking good volumes, Germany is loading steadily, and China is also buying strongly at the moment. Besides the Conference, other varieties are selling even faster. For Doyenne, we can already see free volumes nearing their end, and supply will drop sharply around mid-December. Blushed pears such as Fred®, Sweet Sensation®, and Qtee® have also started and are performing well, both domestically and abroad." Whether these strong sales will result in less volume in the new year, which could support prices, is something Laurent doubts. "I do not expect an immediate price rise. I think current price levels will hold for the next few months. From March, there might be some room for increases, provided stocks in Belgium and the Netherlands are sufficiently cleared by then."
Quality is also not a concern. "This is an excellent year in terms of quality. Skin quality is better across all varieties than last year, partly because there was no hail damage. There are fewer class II. There is slightly more industry fruit due to flat and soft pears, caused by the warm weather in September, which gave late-picked lots more downtime. Most of that has now been sorted out, so the issues will decrease in the coming weeks."
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Demand for apples may improve
Turning to apples, the situation is slightly different. "Here too, the harvest was very large and the quality excellent, with high sugars and good flavour. But sales could definitely improve. We need more export channels to move the large volumes. In European retail, we are selling significantly more than last year, thanks to agreed promotions and campaigns. Even so, additional sales are still welcome."
"This is where competition from neighbouring countries comes in. France, Germany, and the Netherlands all had strong harvests," he says. "As a result, exporting to those regions is more difficult. We are closely watching markets in Hungary, Romania, Moldova, Serbia, and Turkey, where frost damage may increase demand once local stocks are depleted. Exports to India are also increasing, mainly in small sizes for now, but
© BelOrtathis could remain a promising market in the coming months. These are the potential markets we are targeting. Apples are obviously much less of an export product for us than pears, but in years like this, it is important to have several options. We focus more on countries where frost has created shortages."
"Within the different apple varieties, Jonagold remains strong domestically, but club varieties are clearly gaining ground despite their higher price. Their rising popularity has to do with taste preferences and with the longer shelf life of varieties such as Kanzi and Greenstar."
Appelsintjes
Among apples, the 'Appelsintjes' campaign is running again this year. Like the campaign with the Smurfs, it was developed in the run-up to St Nicholas to boost consumption among younger generations. "And it is going extremely well again. Two shifts are running to process all orders. It is a domestic campaign, with a small share exported to Luxembourg. Such initiatives remain important for getting children and young people excited about top fruit again. Compared to exotic fruit, it is a healthy and cheaper product, but consumption continues to fall. With targeted campaigns, we are trying to reverse that trend." 
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For more information:
Laurent De Smedt
BelOrta
Mechelsesteenweg 120
B-2860 Sint-Katelijne-Waver, Belgium
Tel: +32 (0) 15 55 11 11
[email protected]
www.belorta.be
