The Polish apple season has been marked by swift and rapid price fluctuations, says Jakub Krawczyk, export manager for Polish apple exporter Appolonia: "The Polish apple season is quite good for the growers, but it's a hard one for the exporters. Every cold chamber that opens with good quality apples inside is emptied immediately, with many companies willing to buy these apples. Growers see that there is a strong demand for apples and the prices are increasing very rapidly. The problem with prices increasing rapidly is when you try to export apples or even supply local supermarkets. Polish markets often fix prices for long periods of time and they don't even want to hear about increasing the prices further. The same thing happens when we export, customers are shocked when the price increases. Of course, some accept the new situation and some don't, but we're not the only apple producer in Europe, so foreign customers can simply find another supplier."
As prices are high, more money is coming in for growers. Krawczyk emphasizes that this also is positive for suppliers of machinery and such, as these growers can now invest this money for future seasons. "All the time, our growers are investing in new apple orchards and new equipment. I think a season like the current one ensures that there is money for such investments. Companies that produce sorting machines, tractors, and such had many clients who were interested in purchasing their products, so when there is a season that grower can really make a profit on apples, other sectors can also make more money as a result."
Although some Polish exporters hardly have any good quality apples in stock, Appolonia still has sufficient volumes for quite a few varieties, Krawczyk explains: "We hope we can close most of the sales in June/July, according to our stocks we have approximately the same amount of apples in our chambers as we did last year. The difference is in the percentage split of varieties, but generally speaking, the volumes are about the same. It would be interesting to compare the volumes in our chambers with those of other companies because some companies in the south of Poland are facing a large deficit of good quality apples. The varieties that are available in big volumes at our place are Champion, Red Jonaprince, Idared, Jonagored, and Golden Delicious. Some varieties are quite hard to get, such as Gala, Ligol, or Mutsu."
Krawczyk is unsure if the prices for apples are at a stable level now, or if more price increases are coming. If that is the case, trade will be slow. "There was a rapid increase of the apple prices. Most of the growers expect to have prices per kg, but there aren't too many apples available to buy for sorting. Growers can get a quite decent price for their apples at the moment. We're not sure if these increases will continue in the coming weeks. What we do know is that we've reached a price in some areas, that is no longer acceptable for the end customers. This isn't just about the export, but also for the local supermarket chains. We're receiving many complaints that Polish apples are much more expensive than other producers in Europe. As a result, sales were very slow in February."
"This season showed that it is very hard for exporters when too many Polish companies are exporting to the same country. If there is too much competition, prices drop fast and our margins become so low that it can be pointless to sell to high-risk destinations. We know that everybody needs to export their apples and everybody is seeking new opportunities to sell, but it would be really good if we as exporters had more destinations to sell to, because maybe then we will not create difficult situations for ourselves and splitting volumes into more regions could give us a little bit more space to earn a profit," Krawczyk concludes.
For more information:
Jakub Krawczyk
Appolonia
Tel: +48 785 342 930
Email: jakub.krawczyk@appolonia.pl
www.appolonia.pl