New Zealand apple producers are increasingly concerned at slow movement of fruit through the supply chain in the UK and Europe.
“The European crop has taken much longer to clear than anyone anticipated,” said Peter Beaven, ceo of grower organisation Pipfruit NZ.
Output of Braeburn from New Zealand is at a 20-year low and exports are expected to finish the season at just 3.4 million tray-carton-equivalents, some two million TCEs down on last season and 600,000 TCEs down on the previous record low of 2008.
Beaven believes that large volumes of low-priced Italian Braeburn have been blocking sales of NZ fruit.
Volumes into the UK have been well down on previous years, Beaven said, blaming recent warm weather and a preference for summer fruit among consumers. But the pace of movement through the supply chain has been more in line with other years and certainly better than elsewhere in the EU.
