The World Apple and Pear Association (WAPA) highlighted a trend for consumers trading down to lower-grade fruit as prices stayed unusually high.
The WAPA annual general meeting attendees elected a new president, Alessandro Dalpiaz of Assomela in Italy, who boldly stated “our task is networking” as the association, which represents the 15 largest apple and pear producers globally, looks to move forward.
Kevin Moffitt of USA Pears was elected vice-president and reflected brightly on the future despite the economic downturn: “Mid-priced fruit like apples and pears are still doing fine, generally as they are not seen as a luxury and do not have to be priced highly.
“Also the lower grades of apple and pear are much more popular than normal and retailers in the US kept prices high almost all the way through December which is very unusual. There may be tension on the market.”
WAPA released its annual consolidated crop forecasts for the forthcoming southern hemisphere apple and pear seasons. Collected from industry groups in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Chile, New Zealand and South Africa, the statistics showed that 2009 apple and pear southern hemisphere crops are expected to reach 5.2 million tonnes for apples an increase of four per cent on the 2008 crop.
The forecasted export volumes for apples are at 1.7m tonnes, an increase of 3.3 per cent on last year. Pear production is forecasted to reach 1.5m tonnes, a significant increase of nine per cent. The export of pears may, however, experience a decrease of nine per cent mainly due to a decrease of exports from leading exporting country Argentina.
Philippe Binard, secretary general of WAPA, said: “The collation of these comprehensive statistics has hitherto provided sound information from the southern hemisphere, complementing in a similar format the data already existing for the Northern Hemisphere production.”
Dalpiaz said: “The forecasted production and exports in the Southern Hemisphere, the revised production data and higher stock levels in the Northern hemisphere, the concerns of the impact of the world economic situation on the demand, the consequences on trade of currency devaluation in important markets such as Russia and the UK, are some key parameters that could significantly influence the apple and pear markets in the coming months.
Moffat also explained the details of some work he is doing into using ethylene in pears to trigger softening and developing juice: “We want to make pears more consistent and we are working with consumer to see if we should consider bringing this on to the market.”
In order to assist the sector, WAPA is has committed to co-ordinating industry-led steps to increase transparency on production and markets, and to facilitate the exchange of information for the global apple and pear business. Improved forecasting exercise on production, along to other consolidated data exchange such as stocks and export forecasts are a vital component to such progress.
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