European retailers were issued a stark warning by the World Apple and Pear Association (WAPA) at last week’s annual Prognosfruit conference.

“Growers are concerned regarding the delay in harmonisation of EU maximum residue levels (MRLs), the phase-out of important active substances for specific use and the proliferation of non-regulatory requirements by major European retailers and discounters,” said Frédéric Rosseneu, WAPA food safety adviser.

“We lament effort undertaken by producers with GAP and integrated crop management schemes that are not sufficiently taken into account, and call on retailers to take such schemes into account as well as adhering to official MRLs, which are fixed within strict margins.”

WAPA also called for a sensible end to the southern-hemisphere season, as the European apple crop across the enlarged EU is forecast to fall 13 per cent on last season. According to figures released at Prognosfruit, held in Vilnius, Lithuania, Poland’s crop in particular is considerably down, having been hard hit by frosts in April and again in May. Prices are running at their highest levels in 17 years and the country - the third largest producer of apples in the enlarged EU - will have to import apples to meet its fresh-market requirement for the first time.

Italy, the trading bloc’s largest apple producer, has suffered hail in some of its major growing regions, and the volume destined for processing is likely to rise as a result, but fruit size is good.

And in Belgium, fruit quality and size both look good, and yields are slightly up on last season. Acreage has declined by 150 hectares as Jonagold acreage is grubbed and new plantings of Kanzi, Belgica and Rubens increase. In the Netherlands, the picture is similar, with Jonagold acreage shrinking as Kanzi, Rubens and Junami plantings rise. Picking is running two weeks ahead of usual.

For information on the French forecast, see the feature in this site's features section.

“Extremely strong demand for juicing apples is expected as apple juice concentrate stocks are sold out,” said Wilhelm Ellinger of ZMP Bonn, who presented the European overview at the conference. “High prices for juicing apples will give an incentive to divert fruit that is inferior to fresh-market quality to processing.”

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