Apricot growers in Hungary are relieved to have a normal harvest season after last year's frost disaster caused widespread damage. "This year we only had three nights with the temperature that has gone into minus, last year there were 12 nights of frost," says Máté Tömösváry, from the Hungarian co-operative Balaton-ker-Tész.
Their export markets in Germany, Austria, Czech Republic and Slovenia have a big demand for the apricots. "The fresh market is very good right now. The price is a little bit higher than expected before the season. All buyers are very active, there is a big pull from the markets, we have no problem with the selling. Hungarian apricots are much closer than those from Italy, Macedonia and Greece. We have an advantage with the transport. It only takes eight hours from Germany and four hours to reach Austria," states Tömösváry.
He says they had a little bit of hail damage at the start of the apricot season. "We had some hail damage to the early apricot varieties. We will sell these to the industrial markets. It's just a little problem, which we will solve easily. Last year was catastrophic. Some of our partners could not give us anything. We missed one year, now we bounced back as soon as we have volumes."
Hungarian plum harvest starting
Tömösváry says that, as the plum harvest is starting this week, he is really enjoying every aspect of the market. "We're selling some plum volumes to supermarkets. We're starting the export of plums in this week. The market is quite good. The price starts higher, with the plums that are suitable for the Eastern European and German markets also. The first few weeks are always good because it's a new fruit, then it will show some decrease. Plum volumes are the same every year. Three to four years ago, the market was low."
The Balaton-ker-Tész Co-operative have just completed their cherry season. "After the Polish had frost damage, these markets were pulling stock and looking for cherries. This was a good cherry season for us."
Tömösváry concludes by saying: "After the plums, pears and then walnuts will be harvested in Hungary. Sometimes we are unfortunate, or we are fortune with the weather, just like other European countries who produce apricots and plums. Fruit growing is a gamble: one year you are lucky and another year unlucky. It's hard to live in this way, but we are used to it."
For more information:
Máté Tömösváry
Balaton-ker-Tész Co-operative
Tel: +36 20 422 7200
Email: [email protected]