Despite it being a challenging apple season in Poland, so far there's no foul taste in the mouth of Polish exporter Galster, says Mateusz Wajnert, head of sales for the company: "I can't complain about the current apple season. We're doing our job, working with our old customers, while caring about maintaining the relationships. As a result, customers don't leave us, and we are still trying to develop our relations with them further, while taking on new challenges with some of them. However, it should be emphasized that the current season is by no means an easy season. In general, we have a smaller amount of apples suitable for long-distance shipments. This was caused by the weather during the harvest, which was very hot. This means we must devote time to selecting a good batch of apples."
As the availability of the better quality apples is limited, Galster has set its focus on the already existing relationships, rather than venturing out into new markets, Wajnert explains. "We must manage our goods in such a way that, above all, we satisfy our long-term customers. This is certainly not the season to open a new market with high sales. But we want to try out new challenges, to pave the way for the next seasons. We're not complaining about the current demand. We can sell more all the time. If we had a huge supply of top-quality apples, we could work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week with the current interest."
There's always the dilemma of storing apples for better prices, or selling them faster to save on costs. According to Wajnert, exporters must seek a balance, rather than going all-in on either option: "It's natural that we want to earn as much as possible and recover the cost of storing the fruit. On the other hand, we must maintain continuity of cooperation with our clients in the coming months. We try to find a golden mean in this."
With the apple operation remaining steady, Wajnert looks forward to expand Galster's cherry operation in the coming years. "Looking at Galster's acreage, apple tree plantings remain unchanged on our farms. We're satisfied with the production of sweet cherries as well. We have been learning more and more about this product for several years, from production to sales. We're achieving better and better results and we want to increase the acreage for sweet cherries in the future."
For more information:
Mateusz Wajnert
Galster Sp. z o.o.
Tel: +48 660 042 551
Email: [email protected]
www.galster.pl