Prices for New Zealand apples are keeping high in several markets so far on the back of low volumes, but in others the country’s exporters are waiting for opportunities to sell fruit from storage.
New Zealand Royal Galas are selling well in Europe, and discount retailers will soon finish their Royal Gala programmes and move to Braeburn while supermarkets will increase Royal Gala volume, according to Pipfruit Newz, peak body Pipfruit New Zealand’s newsletter.
The country’s apples are expected to take up more shelf space soon with the end of the Italian Braeburn season in less than two weeks.
The low volumes of Southern Hemisphere apples in the market are behind the solid prices, Brendon Osborn of New Zealand exporter Heartland told Fruitnet.com.
“It’s helped there’s been less Southern Hemisphere volume,” he said. “New Zealand Royal Gala shipments to Europe will end up about 75 per cent of last year, and Braeburn will be a bit less than that.”
In the UK prices for New Zealand Royal Gala and Braeburn have stayed high on the back of low import volumes, with the end of the Cox Orange deal selling at particularly high prices. Some retailers have cancelled promotions to stop stock selling too quickly, reported the newsletter.
In Asia and the Middle East sales of fresh New Zealand apples are reaching their end, with a delay expected before controlled atmosphere (CA) and SmartFresh programmes begin.
Pipfruit New Zealand reported markets there would remain flat until the end of June, but there were good opportunities for stored apples from that point.
Sales in North America are continuing to be sluggish as the shoulders of the Washington season move through the market, with added pressure from large volumes of low-prices Chilean fruit, particularly in counts 90 and 100.
“We’ve got Royal Gala and Braeburn ticking over,” stated Mr Osborn. “The pricing is OK on the larger size. The count 90s are a bit slow – there’s still a lot of Chilean product around.”
Mr Osborn explained the US market had been moving through local stock at a good pace early in the year, but had slowed down. “In January they had a million cartons less in stock of Royal Gala, but now it’s the same as last year.”
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