TO COMPOUND matters in 2002, poor weather conditions had a deep impact on overall fruit quality and consumption eventually plunged across the continent.

The initial part of the season was the worst as Spanish and French stonefruit collided on the marketplace due to a 10 to 15 days delay in maturity of the French product. None of the main producers escaped unscathed and generally shared the same feeling about it. “Prices at that time were slashed,” says Arcadi Caldero from Catalonia Qualitat. “But things went better for the rest of the season both in sales and price terms.” Valtieri Mazzotti from CSO Ferrara (Italy) agrees: “We also had some problems with early produce. The season improved generally, but the prices just weren't there,” he says. And French counterpart from BRM, Christophe Chomette, admits high volumes and an advanced crop had predictable consequences for the market. He says: “We managed to move the stocks but we almost sold at a loss.”

One does not need to be an analyst to understand that the coming season was seen as crucial by the continent's stonefruit fraternity.

Unfortunately April's heavy frosts swept the main producing areas and raised a new set of concerns. Nobody wanted as big a crop as last year, but neither did producers want to see an enforced drop. A quick look at the figures released at last week's Europech, in Perpignan, reveals the extent of the damage.

The peach and nectarine crop should be close to 3mt, which represents a 26 per cent decline on 2002. As ever, frosts wreaked havoc at random and the crop will be at its shortest in Greece, parts of Italy and to a lesser extent in France. Spain escaped relatively unscathed and at the time of writing still expects to offer roughly the same potential volume.

The opposite of last year's early maturity will also have an effect as blossoming delays which were caused by the cold spell between January and March will push back harvesting, particularly for varieties harvested in May and June.

The apricot story is frustratingly similar. The total crop is predicted to decline by 30 per cent to 370,000t (523,000t in 2002). Most production areas have been at least touched by the frost, except for Greece. As the Spanish crop is expected to be “normal” the marketplace should feel the impact of the shortage from June 15 to the end of July.

Times are tougher than they used to be for French exporters to the UK, although volume figures keep looking good. What used to be a stronghold has become less predictable over the last few years.

In 2002 for example, France exported 18,000t to the UK market, 5,000t more than the previous year. But exporters say the trend is uneven and they struggle to compete with the Spanish who generally have lower production costs and greater economies of scale.

Estagel, based in Nîmes, has a potential export crop of 13,500t of peaches and nectarines and 1,500t of apricots. The company developed its export business with the UK by supplying Marks & Spencer and Asda. Manager Henri-Pierre Bois analyses the evolution of the trade: “The UK market has been rather protected in the past,” he says. “Competition actually existed between retailers but it was based on services more than prices. Competition on quality, I suppose you could say. The advent of Wal-Mart/Asda definitely changed the rules.”

French “quality-based production” had some hard times facing the price war in England, adds Bois. Estagel peach sendings have fallen by around 30 per cent between 1997 and today. “The fall essentially touched calibre B peaches in 1kg baskets, while loose remains important,” he says. “On the other hand, the rise of the category manager has changed the traditional relationship between the French producer and his importer in the UK. Today France is just another origin among the rest as sourcing must be world-wide and year-round. The sector is therefore narrower and competition tougher.”

Nathalie Bonnet from Domaine des Coteaux (6,000t of peaches, 1,000t apricots), offers the same analysis: “Considering costs, sometimes we make better returns working with France-based hard-discounters like Aldi than exporting to the UK,” she says. “The more aggressive and price-oriented market offered opportunities to our competitors like Spain where production costs are largely lower than they are here. The UK has fallen from second to fourth in my portfolio.”

And Alain Mathieu, from Terraneo (the new name for UDC, with 13,000t of nectarines and 9,000t peaches) adds: “We export mainly peaches. The UK used to offer good value for our produce. Today we face an imbalance on the peaches-nectarines market due to harsher competition and very demanding customers.”

Price is just one element of the equation, however, as was underlined by Eric Hostalnou of the Europech team: “Price wise, Greece, Spain and Italy remain competitive. Additionally though, some operators have made significant efforts to increase quality and variety innovation and these products arrive on the premium sector of the market that used to be a playground for France.”

In this rather gloomy picture for the French, apricots might remain the trump card. In 2002, French producers represented 3,500t out of the 8,700t total imports of apricots into the UK; a slow but steady development since the end of the 1990s. The fact that the little orange fruit is consumed by only 30 to 35 per cent of the British leaves room for further growth. “France is the only European producer to have implemented a real dynamic strategy for this fruit,” claims Hostalnou. “The crop is based in four production regions, each producing its own variety. For big fruit the main is Orangered especially in the Gard and Crau valleys. Traditional varieties like Rouge du Roussillon have found new blood with cultivars like Royal Roussillon but the Rhone Valley Bergeron ñ with a 50,000t potential crop ñ prevails.”

The strategy to stick to varieties that suit the region has delivered results in the export market. “We are definitely 10 years ahead in terms of variety innovation in early apricots,” emphasises Bonnet. “Exports have developed quickly in the last four years and should carry on. Apricots are really considered as a snack in the UK so we can add value with 500g and 750g punnets and consumer packs.”

The UK, despite everything, keeps its appeal as a market for Bois: “Competition from Spain is low-key so we can focus on quality, especially with retailers such as M&S, whose commercial policy is less price-focused than anywhere else,” he says.

The poor 2003 crop (down 40 per cent on 2002) will certainly have an impact. “It is a bad year. There is not much more that I could say.” admits Daniel Obadia, president of the French apricot producers section. “The season will be short. On the other hand, supplying fruit processors will provide an outlet, as they have no stocks left. I do hope there will be communication and co-operation between them and the fresh sector to benefit the market as a whole.” Despite a tricky internal political situation casting shadows over the future of French promotion overseas, Obadia confirmed to the Journal that there will be promotion on the UK market for apricots this summer.

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