Leading French apple grower-shipper Blue Whale has its sights firmly set on Asia where sales of its newer varieties is concerned.
So far the group has trialled Pink Lady and Joya apples, as well as limited volumes of its Fuji, to China, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Vietnam, in recent years with good results.
Blue Whale has five new varieties in development at orchards in south-west France, and hopes to market some of them to Asia within the next five years.
“We want to develop our new varieties in the Asia area,” Marc Peyres, Blue Whale export director, told Fruitnet. “Any project takes time, though. Our newest varieties, Fuji, Joya and Nova Blue went into development five years ago, and only now are we beginning exports. We need another three years to develop volumes. Our other five in development will take time to come on the market.”
Blue Whale typically exports large volumes of apples to Asia until mid-February, with reduced volumes of some lines continuing into April/May.
Speaking mid-way through the current export deal to China, Peyres said sales are slower than last season and volumes 10 per cent down compared to the prior-year period.
“The market in China has been depressed since August, largely due to a big domestic apple crop,” he explained. “Exports are going to plan, however, and we think we will have a better market from February.”
