Market analyst ZMP has revealed that sales of German fruit broke the €300m mark last year, with revenues rising 20 per cent year-on-year to €60m.
Producers saw their sales increase by 13 per cent to 797,600 tonnes last year, said the analyst, noting that a larger than normal apple harvest, said to be the best since 2000, contributed to the record sales.
According to preliminary information received by producers, the country's apple crop was 14 per cent larger last season than in 2006/07 at around 656,000 tonnes.
Overall prices for German fruit were also significantly higher, said the analyst. The average price came in at €45.14 per 100kg, above the level seen every year in the last decade aside from 2003.
Only plums and sweet cherries fell in price as a result of over-supply and lower demand.
Meanwhile, ZMP has also revealed that German fresh vegetable exports have almost tripled in the past 10 years, with shipments dominated by white and red cabbage and onions.
However, Germany remains Europe's largest net importer of vegetables, with imports amounting to some 3m tonnes in 2007, down 3 per cent on the previous year, against exports of around 443,000 tonnes – the latter representing a slight increase on the 2006 figure.
According to ZMP, just seven countries accounted for more than 75 per cent of Germany's export sales: the Netherlands, Austria, Italy, Sweden, France, Denmark and the Czech Republic.
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