In a few days, the first batch of apples from Brazil’s 2017 crop season, whose harvest began a few weeks ago, will get shipped out. The cargo’s destination will be the United Arab Emirates, one of the Middle East countries that Brazil sells apples to on a daily basis.
In the past, the Middle East accounted for as much as 10% of apple exports from Brazil, according to Moisés Albuquerque, CEO of the Brazilian Apple Growers Association (ABPM). “Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Oman are some of the top Arab destinations,” he says.
The ABPM does not estimate its sales per country, but it believes 70,000 to 100,000 tons will be exported this year. The amount is equivalent to the average in a good crop year, which hasn’t been the case for at least two years now.
Albuquerque believes output will match the historical average of 1.1 million tons of apples. “And that’s product with excellent quality. Early summer mornings were cold, and that helps with fruit pigmentation: we’ll have ourselves some bright red apples,” the CEO explains.
