The strength of the euro against sterling is making life difficult for French apple growers supplying the UK market, as English growers get set for a mid-season relaunch of PR activities for the first time.
According to Claude Rehlinger of French exporter Blue Whale, exchange rates are the single biggest issue this season. He told freshinfo: “It is the major problem for us on the UK market and is making the going difficult. Sterling is almost at parity with the euro, which makes our product very expensive. We are continuing to sell to the UK of course, but pricing is tough.”
Adrian Barlow of English Apples & Pears is upbeat about the position for UK growers in the second half of the season, but laments that low prices of imports so far have been hard to understand.
He said: “In the autumn, the prices of imported product were a major surprise to us. They were abnormally low, and this was against a background of huge increases in the cost of production and appreciation in the value of the euro against sterling by 20 per cent. I just can’t understand what is going on and we will be asking them [French exporters] at Fruit Logistica.”
Barlow added that prices have started to move upwards this month and that the UK will be relaunching its season to generate interest among media and consumers for fruit coming out of storage. He said: “The quality of Cox is looking very good. There was a bit of nervousness earlier in the season because of the rainfall last summer and the lack of sun, but we are not experiencing any [storage] problems. Gala has higher stocks than a year ago, as one or two of the major multiples decided to sell less in the pre-Christmas market and marketing desks are happy with the balance between demand and supply.”
The picture is similar in terms of the availability of Braeburn, Jazz and Cameo, as well as Egremont Russett. Barlow said: “UK consumers have a greater choice of English apples for the second half of the season than they have done for many years, which is why we will be doing a lot of PR activity and a secondary season launch.”
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