Inclement weather in the US and a lacklustre growing season in Europe has European traders preparing for tight apple supplies this year, reports Marc Peyres of French apple exporter Blue Whale.
“We're in a unique situation which we haven't seen in 20 years,” Peyres told Freshplaza.com. “It's clear that there will be lower quantities of apples from the US and Western Europe. That hasn't happened since the big frost in Europe in 1991.”
Warm winter weather in key apple-growing regions in the US caused trees to bud early. When subsequent cold weather hit, many trees were vulnerable to frost, resulting in much damaged fruit, he said. Coupled with low supplies in Europe, many retailers will have a hard time finding varieties popular with European consumers.
“The main regions which export apples for us are the United States and Western Europe,” said Peyres. “Because they both have shortages, we just can't find the apples we want elsewhere. Both India and China have apples, but they mostly grow for an expanding local market instead of for export.”
Even if China were willing to export more, added Peyres, the varieties they grow, by and large, do not match up with European consumer requirements.
Peyres added that it would be a challenge to receive prices high enough to compensate for losses caused by lower volumes, and that less fruit means no new customers.
“It's so much easier to have more to sell than to not have enough,” he said. “All around, there will be more demand than what we have. We'll try to get by with less, to get better margins on less fruit and try to supply existing customers.”
