Dutch top fruit market prices look good. "The strong Class II market is especially distinctive, and that price hardly differs from the Class I. That's truly unbelievable," says Aart Blom of the Dutch company FruitPartners Blom. "There's much more of a difference in apples. There, the Class II fruit quickly ends up going to the peeling industry or industry, but Class II pears are laying a good market foundation."
FruitPartners Blom used to be very focused on selling apples on the local market. Recently, though, that focus has shifted to pears. "Those go everywhere to everyone. Exports to, say, Germany are going very well, but countries like Italy, France, and Spain are also participating well," explains Aart.
"Pear prices are all between €0.80 and €1. There shouldn't be a market dip soon, but our sector must stay alert to growers keeping their cells closed in hopes of even higher prices."
"We need to keep thinning out the stock. Apple sales are going well, too, but that's purely locally," says Blom.
"The market for the classics like Elstar and Jonagold is good. And although many parties work with club varieties, we shouldn't forget that these classics still have the largest share."
"The apples' quality did suffer a bit during the warm weeks, but, so far, there's ample good fruit available. I expect apple prices to keep rising. With these prices, more imported apples will probably come this way in the spring. But, currently, there are few alternatives," Aart concludes.
For more information:
Fruit Partners Blom
16 Hooiweg
4158 LE, Deil, NL
Tel: +31 (0) 345 651 311
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.fruitpartnersblom.nl