Powerful storms have hit two important growing areas for Pink Lady® apples this month, with RA fruit the most affected. However, early indications from Pink Lady’s UK representative Coregeo are that this market should remain largely unaffected.
In South Africa, the Grabouw and Elgin/Villiersdorp were hard hit by the downpours, while heavy rain has also affected most apple growing areas of Chile. All of the CA fruit had been harvested and stored in South Africa, but RA fruit was still left to be picked, and therefore caught the brunt of the weather.
“Despite these difficulties, while South African exports will not meet original expectations of increased availability, the UK should have a similar quantity to 2007,” said Coregeo’s Andy Macdonald. ”The situation in Chile is similar with some fruit being lost to the weather, however it is expected that the UK will again receive a similar volume to that of 2007.”
Macdonald added that Pink Lady is at the forefront of developing growing and storage techniques to “maintain the excellent quality which is so strongly associated with this apple. As a result, the 2008 southern hemisphere crop, whilst possibly not showing an increase on 2007 yields, will again provide the UK market with the finest fruit available,” he said.
The number of Pink Lady Apples sold in the UK has increased each year since they were first introduced from Western Australia in the 1990s. Last year, sales totalled 2.5 million cartons and European sales this season have improved by 37 per cent. Early crop indications for the southern hemisphere are promising.
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