With the New Year approaching, it is time to gradually take stock of the evaluation of the new pear harvest. "Overall, satisfaction prevails, but vigilance is high," says Tony Derwael of Bel'Export. "Let me start by saying that I am optimistic about the coming market, but internal quality, and shelf life in particular, still leave something to be desired in some cases."
"The pear harvest was generally larger than predicted," he explains. "The downside is that for some growers, the production may have been too good, meaning a significant share, as we know, was not picked in time. In this respect, SmartFresh has really proven to be a boon this year, especially for the later-picked lots. Every day we see more differences between treated and untreated batches, both in pears and apples. This makes sense because when the fruit condition is lower due to high sugar content, the risk increases. If the fruit is then also picked late, the flavour may be perfect, but shelf life becomes a serious concern."
Culling late-picked lots
This creates some pressure on the market, Tony says. "And that pressure will remain for the time being. I fear we cannot escape it. As long as the late-picked pears are still on the market, it will remain a matter of clearing volume. Pears that were picked on time are generally kept until the price, including costs, matches what was paid for picking. That is certainly necessary, and I think we are still a few months away from really reaching the better lots. If you pick over three, or in some cases four weeks, that easily means that 30 per cent of the volume is picked too late and is not suitable for long-term storage."
"As for the market itself, however, we cannot complain," the trader confirms. "We are clearing at a good pace, and there are enough gaps to fill. There is a gap left by Turkey due to lower harvests, but Eastern Europe, as well, such as Hungary and the Balkan countries, offers perspective. They may have had only half a harvest in top fruit, which makes them self-sufficient until the New Year. We therefore see opportunities after the New Year, and this makes me genuinely optimistic. However, for higher prices, we will really have to wait a while longer. In that respect, the weaker parties are putting our backs against the wall."
© Bel'Export
Spread the pick
"What worries me for the future is the labour shortage. That is not only an issue this year. We had heavy picking due to a large harvest, but every year it becomes harder to find enough people. As growers, we need to spread the picking better. It cannot be that everything has to be done within three weeks. In the Netherlands, this is an extra disadvantage because Elstar and Conference fall within the same picking window. That simply does not work. We need to move towards varieties that ripen either earlier or later than Conference. Otherwise, the problem will only worsen, and there are certainly alternatives. For example, Jonagold and the new club varieties fit better into the schedule and follow each other more smoothly. I am currently hearing many problems with Elstar: poor shelf life and overly soft fruit, often due to picking too late. We really need to pay closer attention to that. We must look critically at what we plant in order to spread labour demand more evenly."
Too good weather
He therefore hopes for improvement. "I remain optimistic, but we cannot be satisfied with the current situation. This is something we need to factor into our direction for the coming years. Nature was very favourable to us last year. We may have had the largest harvest in the past 20 years. At the same time, we had too few hands and too much volume in too short a period. June, July, and August were very dry, so early-picked apples such as Gala did not reach sufficient size. In September, fortunately, we had rain mainly at night, which was very welcome. As a result, both apples and pears continued to grow, even into the end of October. This produced volume, but it also meant that many were surprised by the total yield. This is something we will need to take into account in the years ahead."
For more information:
Tony Derwael
Bel'Export
Neremstraat 2
3840 Borgloon - Belgium
Tel: +32 12 440 551
[email protected]
www.belexport.com
