India’s ban on Chinese apples has generated greater demand for Washington Red Delicious apples in the South Asian sub-Continent this season, reveals the Washington Apple Commission president Todd Fryhover.
Meanwhile, the latest round of government import permits issued in Indonesia has triggered a surge of orders for the fruit in the archipelago.
This situation is limiting Washington Red Delicious supply in other markets and pushing up prices, Fryhover said, speaking at the Fruit Logistica trade show in Berlin last week (7 February).
'We are seeing tremendous demand for Red Delicious in India and Indonesia this season,” he said. 'In India, exports are ahead of last year. With China gone, this has created great interest for our fruit in India. At the same time, import permits just opened up in Indonesia and we are going to try and supply the market.”
Vietnam, meanwhile, is a growing and dynamic market for Washington state’s other apple varieties, he said. Six years ago, Washington shipped some 400,000 boxes to Vietnam. This season (2017/18), WAC pegs exports at 1.3m boxes.
'The retail infrastructure over there is phenomenal. New fruit shops are also going up. Premium varieties are going there, and there doesn’t seem to be a price ceiling for demand.
'Vietnam is taking lots of different varieties. This demand for varietal diversity reflects the movement of our industry in Washington state,” said Fryhover.
Cosmic Crisp, a cross between Honey Crisp and Enterprise, is a new variety exclusive to the state of Washington, and one that is seeing a concerted planting effort among Washington growers.
The first 700,000 Cosmic Crisp trees were planted in 2017. This number is expected to rise to 3.1m trees by the end of this year, and soar to 500m by 2019.
As well as developing new conventionally-grown varieties, Washington’s apple sector is also seeing growth in its organic apple category, Fryhover said.
'Washington is producing around 15m boxes of organic apples this year, and this is projected to increase to 20m boxes next year,” he said.
The UK market this season has seen a 'tremendous” rise in organic Washington apple imports, mainly Galas, as a result of lower European production, Fryhover added.
'Washington exported around 66,000 boxes of organic galas to the UK so far this season, which represents a 326 per cent rise over the previous year,” he said. 'We will see continued growth in Washington’s organic sector.”
