The French are enjoying a strong apple season in the UK, with stocks clearing well and prices holding up.
“Prices have been up slightly on last year, demand is good and quality is reasonable too,” said Mark Culley of UK importer, packer and category manager OrchardWorld. “We are set for a good handover to southern hemisphere as all French Gala supplies have finished in the last two weeks and Braeburn should be finishing in May.”
Golden Delicious has not been faring quite so well and Culley reports that sales have been down 12 per cent in the last 12 months. “People are wanting to trade up, and the Golden Delicious has come to be seen at the variety that has to be the cheapest.”
There has also been less competition this season from central and eastern European sources such as Poland, which last year disrupted the market for the French in some of its key, established European export destinations.
“There has definitely not been so much competition this year for the French from other sources,” said Culley. “There has been a bit more fruit out of Germany and Austria, and of course Italy, to the UK but Poland has not affected the European market as much as it did last year.”
Overall, the apple stocks in the European Union on March 1 are some nine per cent below last year’s levels at the same date.
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