The Envy has been on the market for some years now, and is gaining popularity internationally. Because of this, a shortage is looming. By expanding the cultivation in Southern Europe, it should at least be possible to fulfil European demand. Tony Fissette of Enza Fruit talks about the impetuous growth of this ‘enviable apple’. Enza Fruit is the exclusive distributor of the apple on the European continent.
“The volumes are stable this year,” Tony begins. “In New Zealand, there’s been a lot of hail that influenced cultivation, so I am happy we have a stable volume.” The Belgian trader would have preferred to have seen more volume being available to test the apple on more markets. “The Envy is very popular in Asia, North America and the Middle East. I expect the apple to become popular in Southern Europe as well, but we don’t have enough volume to test that well.” The New Zealand production is estimated at 13,800 tonnes this year, which amounts to 766,000 18-kilo packages. 15,000 of those packages are coming to Europe.
European acreage and plans 2020
The shortage on the European market is closely related to the prices in Europe. The Envy yields more in Asia and North America. The Envy yields 32 Euro per package, for instance, but in North America, 60 dollars is paid for the same apple. “It is self-evident that we can’t ask for extra volume in New Zealand if they’re able to achieve better prices elsewhere in the world.”
Europe is considered a growth market for the Envy, “but only if it’s cultivated in Europe. Then we don’t have any currency influence anymore, and we can really go for it.” There are plans to get the European production to a level of 732,000 packages in 2020. To achieve that, the acreage in France, Italy and Spain has to be further expanded. A lot is being invested in that at the moment.
Worldwide, the production in the southern hemisphere is to reach 43,220 tonnes, which amounts to 2.4 million packages, in 2020. For the northern hemisphere, they’re aiming for a production of 3,397,000 packages, or 61,146 tonnes. “We have also planted in South Korea and North America. In North America, we planted the biggest acreage of the northern hemisphere, which corresponds with 43,920 tonnes, or 2,440,000 packages.”
