"We could do with a little more activity in the hard fruit market," states Erik Kieftenburg, of Fruit Noordholland, from Zwaagdijk. "We are currently working with the last Doyenne du Comice pears. There is still a good amount of small sizes (65-75) left, and those are difficult to sell, but the sale of large sizes (75-85) is going well. We are trying to sell as much as we can before we fully switch to the Conference. "
Conference
The marketing of Conference pears remains difficult. "Back when we still exported to Russia, sales were much greater. German purchases are also quite ordinary. We are now catching up with the delays, but that is not reflected in the price," says Erik. Prices for the 55/65 sizes stand between 38 and 48 cents' for the 65-75, they range between 45 and 55 cents and large pears (75+) cost between 55 and 65 cents and have become a little more expensive. "Much depends on the quality; if the pears are suitable for the English market, you get a few cents more."
Elstar
Also with apples does the quality entail notable differences in prices. "If you have good Elstar apples from the ULO storage with no defects, you obtain good revenue, but fruit from the second pick or batches with a disappointing hardness yield considerably lower results. This also applies to the Jonagold," assures the trader. "The best Elstar apples of the most expensive sizes (75-80) cost around 65-75 cents, but if anything is wrong about them, the price drops to 40-50 cents. And we are talking about good, edible apples, because those batches with serious defects are sold for any price offered."
In any case, what the market could benefit from, according to Erik, would be stable weather. "The rainfall and storms have slowed the market down and that takes a considerable toll on the turnover. Supermarket promotions with prices that yield nobody a profit are also causing quite a bit of damage."
