Appealing to a wide audience, stonefruit has traditionally been a popular category, though it has had to work harder in recent years to win over consumers spoilt for choice in the fruit aisles.
Children and adults alike love a juicy peach, nectarine or apricot, and in the UK, homegrown fruit has seen renewed interest, particularly for cherries. Increasing trip volumes and consumers buying more per trip have been the main reasons behind the 2.1 per cent value and 3.4 per cent volume increase for stonefruit, according to Kantar Worldpanel.
At a production level, growers have had much to contend with across Europe. Eric Hostalnou, fruit and vegetable service manager at the Agricultural Chamber in Roussillon, says French stonefruit growers are trying to put a difficult few years behind them.
“Last year the season was very bad, as has been the case for a few years. This season again we had cold snaps and hail in some areas, leading to lower production volumes than predicted and smaller fruit.”
Only around 20 per cent of French stonefruit is exported, mainly nectarines and peaches, to Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and the UK. However, the UK is a demanding market with relatively low prices, an equation that doesn’t always add up. “British buyers don’t pay very well; we find that markets such as Switzerland and Belgium tend to suit us better,” explains Hostalnou.
Over here, the French face stiff competition from Spanish producers, whose prices are lower. “This year we have tried to compete with Spain while maintaining slightly higher prices, and the dynamic has been relatively good. But in addition, Spanish producers also offer slightly different products, such as flat peaches, which haven’t really taken off on a large scale in France. Perhaps we have slightly more conservative consumers,” he observes.
Meanwhile in Greece stonefruit has been selling well for the best part of the season. Volumes of peaches and nectarines were high until mid-August, explains Thanos Economou, general manager at The Agricultural Cooperative of Naoussa. “After that we saw a drop in demand, which meant we had to lower our prices for the late varieties of peaches and nectarines and look to slightly different markets, such as the Middle East.”
Economou describes the UK as “a typical western-style market” and says it offers good opportunities for Greece, where the agricultural export sector isn’t suffering as much from the economic crisis as other industries. “We as a co-operative deal with large quantities, and stonefruit is growing in popularity. It’s a trend we will see more of,” he adds.
He thinks this is partly down to improved quality and taste, and better presentation. “New varieties like flat peaches create interest in the category, while considerable effort is going into better packaging design. Producers have got very savvy and know how to make the fruit attractive to consumers.”
Cherries have been a star performer in the stonefruit category in recent years, with domestic production continuing to grow. “We are sure that increasing UK cherry production helps further drive sales during the UK season,” says a spokesperson for British Cherries and English Plums.
“Consumers and therefore retailers are tremendous supporters of UK-produced cherries and plums, and longer-season production of UK cherries will further drive cherry sales.”
And production throughout Europe is set to benefit from the recent signing of an EU Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) action initiative, involving scientists at East Malling Research (EMR).
The principal focus of COST is to enable scientific collaboration and networking, with cherry researchers at EMR and across Europe combining their expertise on plant genetics, physiology and pest and disease management to promote sustainable cherry production in the EU. Breeding programmes are set to benefit from new technologies, helping to establish co-ordinated marker-assisted selection strategies. -
CHILE PUTS THE CHERRY ON TOP
Chile expects to increase its cherry exports to the EU, Japan and especially China in the future as production continues to expand in the South American nation.
Planted area with cherries has spread significantly in Chile during the last few years, rising by 1,500-2,500ha annually, according to a new GAIN report published by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).
Of the 16,000ha currently planted, the USDA said close to 40 per cent of orchards are still not in production or are in the incremental stage of production, meaning output should continue to grow in the next few years.
Data from Chile’s Ministry of Agriculture and Customs, and reported by Fresh Fruit Portal, points towards a 32 per cent rise in Chilean cherry exports to 75,774 tonnes in the 2012-13 season.
Nevertheless, the USDA said industry sources are “sceptical and worried” since weather predictions indicate that El Niño could bring unseasonal rainfall during the harvesting period, which could seriously affect quality and volume.
Chile shipped some 70,227 tonnes of cherries last season, to primarily China, the US and Hong Kong, according to the USDA report.
Since 2007, the USDA said Chile has exported cherries duty free to the EU, while in six years’ time its agreement with Japan will lower the current 8.5 per cent duty to zero.
Chile’s trade agreement with China also calls for a duty reduction in three years, down from the present 10 per cent duty, the agency noted.
Cherries are one of the few fruits for which Chilean producers are increasing their planted area significantly in spite of the continued fall in the value of the US dollar against the Chilean peso, according to the USDA.
The continued devaluation of the dollar is causing a rise in production costs (in pesos), while returns (in dollars) are falling.
Meanwhile in other news the establishment of the Chilean Cherry Committee has been made official following the election of a board of directors.
Cristián Tagle of Agrícola San Francisco Lo Garcés, one of Chile’s leading cherry grower-exporters, has been appointed president of the association as of 20 August, according to a report by SimFRUIT.
The committee comprises 21 companies who combined represented 73 per cent of the 71,000 tonnes of cherries exported from Chile last year.
Board directors include Orieta Ramirez of Frusan, Jorge Tomicic of Chilfresh, Ricardo Koch of Río Blanco, and Alberto Navajas, managing director of Exportadora Rucaray.
The organisation will be also co-ordinated by Edmundo Araya from the Chilean Fruit Exporters’ Association (Asoex).
One of the committee’s first activities was to participate at the Asia Fruit Logistica trade show in Hong Kong earlier this month with a stand in the Chile pavilion.
The Chilean Cherry Committee aims to define and administer promotional programmes for Chilean cherries in various international markets.
Other specific objectives include establishing priorities in relation to opening up new markets; tackling matters related to phytosanitary aspects in the production process; and defining possible market studies. -
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