After a short delay the Polish apple season in in full swing. According to Jan Nowakoski, manager of Polish apple distributor Genesis Fresh, Golden Delicious apples will be more of a green color than last year: “This year, the Polish apple season started with two weeks of delay, due to the weather conditions and a warm autumn. The first Gala apples have been harvested on time and have good conditions for long-transit shipments in terms of export markets. Other varieties, like Red Jonaprince, Jonagold and Ligol, have less colour this season. Golden Delicious is more of a green colour, compared to previous year, when we had more sunny days and more yellow and red blush Golden was picked.”
As production of apples in Poland is lower this season, finding new opportunities will have to be put on hold, in order to supply Genesis Fresh’ existing clients, Nowakowski explains. “Overall, we’ll have about 30 per cent less volume this season, so we will carefully supply apples to our existing markets and clients. New opportunities will have to be postponed to next year, when we’ll hopefully have a higher production. South America is the new hot market for Polish apples. Since just a couple of years, our apples have found their way on the Latin American markets. The Polish apples are performing well in the region and as a result the demand will be only increase.”
Nowakowski states that both apples for export as well as apples for the processing industry carry a higher price tag this season: “Prices for apples started rather on a good level this season. For a few weeks already, we’ve observed an increase of prices on all varieties. The industry apples are having good season as well. The price level for these apples is still climbing and therefore it’s expected we’ll see high prices across the board, this season.”
Demand is strong at the moment, and exports are expected to increase in this final quarter of the year. “At this moment, we have good demand for the Gala apples. Markets in Asia and South America are performing very well from the beginning of the season. The reason for this is that there are lesser volume of apples in Europe, but also in other part of the world, like India and China. There will be a higher export of apples in Q4 of 2023. We already see a lack of containers due to significant import numbers from overseas countries. Overall, the Polish apple season will be good in terms of shipments within Europe and Asia,” Nowakowski concludes.
For more information:
Jan Nowakowski
Genesis Fresh
Tel: +48 223 783 405
Email: [email protected]