The Polish apple growers are switching up their varieties, and also planting new orchards, says Mohamed Marawan, owner of Polish apple exporter Sarafruit: “Acreage in Poland is definitely developing. Both in regards to completely new orchards, but also within orchards themselves. Some growers are liquidating their old trees and regrowing new varieties. This is a strong development and I think it’s great and positive for the overall Polish apple industry. New varieties that perform well will make us stronger as a producing country, and the market needs these specific varieties. Current demand is coming from the United Arab Emirate, India, Saudi Arabia and Egypt as well.”
According to Marawan, Colombia will be an interesting new market for Polish apples, this season. “It will be a challenge to keep the market positive and open our doors for new markets, such as Colombia. I think these South American countries are very interesting for the SaraFruit apples, but also for Polish apples in general, the opportunities in Colombia are very good. The same can be said for India, there are huge possibilities when it comes to Polish apples being exported to India. Another challenge will be dealing with the increased costs, as the cost of production is very high at the moment.”
Polish growers had to deal with a challenging illness, which will have cost some of the growers a portion of their good quality apples, Marawan explains: “The weather was not good at all this year, we experienced dry periods and more mushroom sickness, that affects the apples as well. Naturally, we tried everything we could to combat this illness, but it was difficult to completely eradicate. The result is that some of the farmers have great quality apples, while the quality of others is not what you’d hope for, despite their efforts to deal with the sickness of the trees. It was just a very hard season in general. You’ll see that most of the apples will not be able to be stored in cold chambers for a very long time.”
“I think the season will progress rather slowly, because the new markets are not ordering as much as we were expecting. That said, we’ll have our doors open to any new clients to cooperate and sell our best quality apples for the remainder of the year,” Marawan concludes.
For more information:
Mohamed Marawan
Sarafruit
Tel: +48 537 935 155
Email: [email protected]
www.sarafruit.eu