"Netherlands: "Good top fruit sales on the domestic market"

The sales of top fruit on the domestic market are going well at the moment. This is according to Zweer van Aalsburg of Fruitmasters. "There are a lot of supermarket deals planned and the prices are fairly stable. At the moment the supply for this period is fairly calm. More growers only start next week, because this is when most employees come back from Poland, so we have had to add to the volumes from our own packaging station. But we made good sales between Christmas and New Year."

"The smaller sizes of Elstar are doing particularly well, with a price level around 80 cents. The price of 80's is around 60 to 70 cents. The market for Conference pears is also stable with a price level of 45 to 50 cents for the 55 sorting and 68 to 73 cents for the 65's. And this isn't bad at all," says Zweer. He expects a stable market for the coming weeks. "The consumption is always reasonably good in the first few months and this cool weather is excellent for the top fruit consumption."

"The export still has to get going. Russia is still in the middle of holidays, so the volumes for export are limited. The pear export for countries like Scandinavia are the same as usual, but we have some more competition from Poland in the apple export," says Zweer.

Although there are some problems with soft pears, according to Zweer they can be prevented with a tight monitoring policy and by clearing the right cells at the right time. "We've had few quality problems with the apples so far. The hardness is slightly lower than in previous years, but after the opening of the cells, Elstar is treated with Smartfresh which benefits the shelf life."

For more information:
Zweer van Aalsburg
Fruitmasters
Deilseweg 7
Postbus 222
4190 CE Geldermalsen
Tel: 0031 345 578 808
Mob: 0031 651 429 504
www.fruitmastersholland.nl