In the last three weeks, demand for apples from the Altes Land region has gradually picked up, while demand at the start of the harvest was somewhat subdued, he says. "In terms of demand, we are still not at 100 per cent, but we are seeing brisk demand across all varieties, whether for Elstar, Braeburn or Jonagold. Nevertheless, we still expect the traditional sales peak between Christmas and spring this season," says Sven Umlandt of the fruit wholesaler of the same name, describing the current market situation.
"We did well and had a seamless transition to the new harvest. The new harvest apples therefore met with a receptive market. The only thing is that there was another hot week at the end of September, which took some of the colour out of some varieties, such as Braeburn and Fräulein, and led to a slight delay. This in turn meant that plants still had to be picked in week 44," says the fruit merchant.
While the harvest was quite plentiful overall, Elstar stocks were somewhat lower this year, not only in the Altes Land region, but throughout Germany. Umlandt confirms that this is again due to the alternation of the Elstar trees. "There will be no getting round opening the first CA warehouses by mid-November. In the meantime, the price level will be higher than last year, which is necessary in view of the sharp rise in costs. In all likelihood, producers will also receive a storage surcharge for CA goods."
Toll increase and plant closures
Not only the producers, but also the marketers have to fight on several fronts, says Umlandt, pointing to the upcoming toll increase. "After all, we sell a product, all too often including delivery. We simply cannot bear a doubling of the toll in this respect. It is also to be expected that the measure will have an impact on consumer prices sooner or later."
After a few tough years for the Altländer pome fruit sector, a good marketing year is now on the horizon. "The interim result is consistently positive. However, the last two years have cost a lot of money, which has also led to some fruit farms going out of business."
Wellant continues to gain ground
From a longer-term perspective, the Wellant variety continues to gain in importance. Umlandt: "The volumes are increasing from year to year, so there's no need to kid yourself. At the same time, the variety still has to fight for its place on the shelf to some extent. Although Elstar is still a leading variety, I can imagine that this variety in particular will increasingly be replaced by Wellant. However, we still have a lot of talking to do with food retail customers and convincing them so that Wellant is listed in every size and the increasing quantities can be marketed sensibly in the near future, ideally at higher prices compared to Elstar."
Climate change is also becoming increasingly noticeable in the Altes Land region and brings with it both opportunities and risks. "Of course, we also have to struggle to some extent. In terms of water resources, however, we are not exactly at a disadvantage and we also have a lot more sun than we did 10-15 years ago. When I ask around at the growers, it's not just club varieties that are being planted, but also varieties that used to be difficult to grow, such as Gala."
Insight into the new sorting lines at Umlandt.
Investments bear fruit
The Umlandt family name has been dedicated to the procurement, processing and marketing of regional pome fruit for 40 years now. The company not only serves bulk buyers throughout Germany, but also in neighbouring countries. In order to remain competitive in the future, the third generation of the family business made several investments last year. "We have expanded our cold store space and also brought our machinery up to date. By implementing a new sorting system, we have been able to roughly triple our sorting capacity. And further investments are already planned," concludes Umlandt.
Pictures: Umlandt Obstgroßhandel GmbH
For more information:
Sven Umlandt
Umlandt Obstgroßhandel GmbH
Schöneworth 1
21729 Freiburg/Elbe
Mob.: 0172/3193270
Fax: 04779/446
Email: [email protected]
web: www.umlandt-obstgrosshandel.de