Europe's harvest of trademarked Jazz apples is now fully underway, with orchards in France, Italy and Switzerland apparently poised to produce 800,000 tray carton equivalents (TCE) – equal to around 14,400 tonnes – of the premium variety this season.
Ahead of the harvest, representatives from Jazz marketer Enza's New Zealand and European teams have visited orchards in the three countries to ensure everything is in place for the harvest and the planned marketing campaigns.
Enza general manager Snow Hardy revealed the new harvest would see an additional 100,000 boxes produced, with Switzerland producing the biggest volume increase.
'We're expecting to harvest 120,000 TCE in Switzerland, with all of that fruit being sold in the local Swiss market.'
The French and Italian crops, meanwhile, will be sold in continental Europe through Enza's marketing partners, with all programmes and marketing coordinated by Enzafruit NZ (Continent) in Belgium.
According to Enza, Jazz is now returning an extra 25 per cent premium to its European growers, having enjoyed strong support from major retailers since it first appeared on European shelves in 2004.
In the UK, for example, it now accounts for 5 per cent of all apple sales.
Promotional push
This year's marketing and promotions will follow the same pattern of successful in-store tasting, demonstrations in wholesale markets and consumer promotions that saw Enzafruit win the prestigious Buddy Bear marketing award at Berlin trade show Fruit Logistica earlier this year.
Enza's European manager Marc Leprince, who has overseen Jazz's development in Europe, said growers were positive about the variety.
'Our production target was 1.5m cartons and we have enough trees in the ground now to achieve that once current plantings reach full production in Europe,' he commented.
The Enza representatives' preharvest visits included a look at recent Jazz plantings in Italy, which are said to be growing well.
Meanwhile, harvesting of Jazz is also underway in the US and the UK and, while volumes are clearly increasing, Hardy said he was pleased to see prices in all markets also continuing to lift.
'Globally, Jazz production is now up to nearly 4m boxes, with continuing strong demand from retailers and consumers,' he confirmed.
'From a New Zealand perspective, a strong European Jazz programme during our off-season is very beneficial because it retains shelf space and increases consumer awareness for the variety.'
