Pink Lady apple

The European Pink Lady crop, grown in France, Italy and Spain, is expected to be of exceptional quality this season, Pink Lady Europe announced in a press release.

Ideal weather conditions in October, and warmer days and cooler nights over the last fortnight, have helped the apples to attain an 'exceptional level of colour, a perfect balance between sweet and tart and a remarkably intense flavour'.

According to Pink Lady, several long-term producers believe that 2010 could be the best harvest to date.

Volume-wise, the harvest is expected to meet expectations, with an anticipated increase of 5-10 per cent to 115,000 tonnes.

'This should meet part of the high market demand for Pink Lady,' the company said. 'In 2009/10, the volume sold in Europe grew by 32 per cent.'