The upcoming apple season has been one of uncertainty, after frosts hit, causing losses all over Europe. At one point, estimates had been as high as 50% losses, but now that the harvest of the main varieties is only a little over a week away, these percentages have dropped significantly.
"Some people say that the production this year will be 20% lower than last year, the pessimists say 25%, it is hard to say an exact figure. I think that some of these earlier estimates had to do more with specific growers or more with specific varieties. The Gala and Champion fared pretty well after the cold, but some other less resistant varieties have seen more damage," shared Marek Marzec from Ewa-bis.
The figures do, indeed, vary from variety to variety, ranging from 6%, to as high as 50%. The losses per variety in Poland have been listed as follows; Gala -6%, Gloster and Golden Delicious -11%, Pinova -14%, Champion -20%. The biggest losses are for the Red Delicious varieties -50%, Elstar -50%, Jonagold -46%, Idared - 43%, Red Jonaprince -29%, and Jonagored - 29%.
Regarding the impact the European-wide shortage has had on pricing, Marek shared; "The prices in the last two weeks have ranged from 20-45% higher than this time last year, but I don't think that this increase will continue as the season continues. For example, a similar situation happened with the processed apples: they started at 1.20 Zloty (EUR 0.28) and now they are between 0.60-0.80 Zloty (EUR 0.14-0.19). I think that once the supply starts for the fresh apples, the growers will start to sell immediately because there is huge demand for cash. They need to be able to cover the costs they have incurred over the season."
The weather conditions in other parts of the world, and political embargoes, have also opened up new possibilities for Polish growers who continue to be on the lookout for new markets after the Russian embargo.
"We entered the Indian market for the first time last year, and I expect sales of Royal Gala this season to go well. I am not sure how much of an impact the Chinese embargo and the recent flooding will have on our sales, but it definitely won't hurt," continued Marek.
"Qatar also offers a lot of opportunity this year for Polish fruit and vegetables after June's political boycott by Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain and Egypt."
