The New Zealand apple harvest is likely to be more spread out than in previous seasons and to start later.

According to industry body Pipfruit NZ, the season in the main growing area of Hawke’s Bay is running a week behind last year and the harvest is set to start next week, with volumes slow to build up. “With the greater spread of flowering and the cool season, we expect harvest to be more spread out than we have experienced in the last two seasons,” said a spokesperson.

Producers are hopeful that a variety of global market factors will combine to their advantage, given good clearance rates of the domestic crop in the US and the draw of Asian markets. Pipfruit NZ chair Ian Palmer said: “Meetings have started for the 2010 export season, with some quiet optimism regarding the market’s conditions. Our cross rate with the US dollar is 40 per cent higher compared with 2009 and this has meant that exporters have to ask for higher sales prices. Luckily, there is a lot less US fruit in the market and only small volumes of French Royal Gala.”

But he also warned against complacency, with considerable volumes of French Braeburn still in store. He said: “If anyone has the illusion that our short Braeburn crop will be snapped up by the market, they are sadly mistaken. It is absolutely clear that the EU and UK markets will be intolerant of oversupply or inferior quality.”

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