"Now that the new year has officially arrived, a mental frontier has also been reached in the hard fruit market," observes Randy Dijksman of Combilo. "The marketing season is in full swing, and all market participants have now gained the necessary experience. Despite the fireworks earlier this week, the pear market itself is far from celebratory. The mood in the (intermediate) trade is subdued."
"Optimistic news, such as the European stock figures, provides a good theoretical starting position and supports pricing. However, we see in our retail channels that shop sales outside of promotions leave much to be desired. This is partly due to reduced product appearance combined with pricing. Additionally, there are fewer promotional opportunities, partly because of the limited supply of smaller sizes, which results in almost all size ranges quoting the same price."
"The downside of the reports on stock figures is that European retailers are increasingly turning to imported fruit. While I don't expect overseas pears to fully compensate for the shortage of pears, they could have a dampening effect," the hard fruit retailer explained. "In recent years, costs have risen sharply across the entire chain, from cultivation to supermarkets. Ultimately, this has led to significant price increases for consumers. It seems we have reached a turning point where a new balance between supply and demand will begin to form. We are increasingly finding that we cannot rely on historical scenarios, and the assumption that a smaller supply automatically leads to higher prices is no longer a given."
"The pace of Lucas pear sales has been satisfactory, as expected. The Lucas pears were visually more affected than the Conference variety by weather conditions during the flowering and growing period. Partly because of this, the price level is significantly below that of the Conference. Combined with their excellent flavor, Lucas pears are a perfect promotional item. Given the challenges concerning internal quality, in particular, we expect to finish the season in week 4, about 5-6 weeks earlier than usual."
"We are confident that as the Lucas pear season ends, there will be an increased willingness to open Conference pear storage cells. I think we need to let go of expectations for ever-increasing prices and focus on improving the outlet rate and stabilizing price formation. This approach will help avoid quality issues and maintain a strong shelf position. Fortunately, Conference pears are still highly preferred in many countries," says Randy.
"As for Polish apples, this season has been very disappointing so far. Fruit quality is inconsistent and generally weak. For the better-quality apples, prices are comparable to those of, for instance, Portuguese apples. Portuguese apples are more consistent in quality, and they have better-mastered quality grading and packing at the source. We continue to work with our Polish partners to improve this and strengthen their market position each year."
For more information:
Randy Dijksman
Combilo
Transportweg 23
2742 RH Waddinxveen
Tel: +31 (0)180 446 747
[email protected]
www.combilo.nl