Low-priced Chinese apples are finding favour in the growing Russian market, which has worried some Eastern European apple producers for whom Russia represents a big share of business.

Poland’s Foreign Agricultural Markets Monitoring Unit (FAMMU) estimated the growth of Chinese apple sales to Russia next year at 15 per cent, reported Fresh Market Poland.

Polish apples, which still have some difficulties with direct access to Russia, depend heavily on the Russian market for stable prices.

Russian demand for apples has increased significantly over the last few years; imported volumes of Washington apples, for example, rose 95 per cent between 2007 and 2008.