The Polish apple season is about to get going, with the harvest starting in about two weeks’ time. One Polish exporter states volumes will be higher than last year, but weather conditions did affect the quality of the apples in some of the Polish orchards.
Polish apple exporter, Fruit-Group, expects there will be quite the diversity in terms of the quality of apples this year, due to the various challenges with the weather this year, says office manager Emilia Lewandowska: “We expect to start harvesting Gala Royal apples around the 10th of September. Compared to the previous two years, the harvested volumes will be higher this season. There is a large diversity when it comes to quality though, as some areas did experience some hail, which completely destroyed various orchards in Poland. Meanwhile other orchards had to deal with frosts, which destroyed the main, stronger buds of their trees.”
In Poland the cultivation area for apples has been growing over the past years. Although there is still growth, this has definitely slowed down. Instead, growers are inclined to try out different kinds of produce, Lewandowska states. “The overall cultivation area of apples is going up slightly in Poland. However, we do see more producers that are part of our group starting to invest in other fruits as well. These growers are exploring the markets of cherries, raspberries, strawberries and blueberries rather than focusing solely on the apples.”
Lewandowska states that Fruit-Group will have a focus on the Asian market in the upcoming season: “This year, we think India will be the most important market for our company. Vietnam and the United Arab Emirates will also be solid markets for us. We’re still committed to our European clients, of course, as we have solid clients.”
