With the smallest apple crop in Europe in a decade and the harvest of Gala already proving to be down on forecasts released at Prognosfruit, uptake for the French crop is keen.
“Prices are holding firm in general, but there is a reticence on the part of UK customers to pay the market value,” said Jacques Vanoye, French apple marketing commission president.
Sylvain Brard at exporter Blue Whale told freshinfo that while the UK is the leading market for the French, there are plenty of others.
“If the UK [buyers] don’t change their attitude on pricing they will start to find it difficult,” said Brard. “There are other markets outside Europe and in Scandinavia who will pay more than the UK.
“The buyers don’t seem to understand that Europe does not have a lot of fruit: the crop could be 12 or even 15 per cent down on last year and there is a deficit in the sizes preferred by the UK market.”
This could mean a shortage of fruit in the 75mm and below specification favoured by multiples in the UK for polybagged fruit.
Brard reports a Gala crop in south-west France with good coloration and sugar levels.
“The fruit was harvested in excellent conditions and is going into storage now,” said Brard.
“The crop has not suffered any stress, so there is no need to sell quickly and storage quality is such that we should enjoy a good campaign in the UK in January and February leaving the pre-Christmas market to the English.”
The Braeburn harvest in the south-west began last weekend and Blue Whale reports good results with a highly coloured clone, Mariri Red.
Volumes of Ariane (pictured) have risen significantly at the Toulouse-based export desk. Brard expects volumes of the variety to double to 2,000 tonnes and marketing in the UK to expand to include all the major multiples.
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