Aussie stone exports to UK fall

Australian stonefruit has been “very good quality” so far this season, according to Wayne Prowse, export development manager at Horticulture Australia.

He told freshinfo: “So far, the weather is very favourable for stonefruit and we are anticipating better-than-average crop quality and volume.”

In the past, premium-quality Australian nectarines and peaches have been marketed in the premium lines of high-quality UK retail chains. Prowse said: “We had built up solid demand, particularly from Marks & Spencer and Waitrose.

“But the global financial crisis has changed the way retailers view premium lines and they have promoted more of the everyday lines, which favour high-volume seafreight lines from South Africa and Chile.

“Our nectarines and peaches are all airfreighted, as the 30-day seafreight journey is too long. We hope to see a return to demand for this fruit as the economy improves, although that is looking unlikely this season.”

Plums are the most popular stonefruit from Australia in the UK and are usually in greatest demand at the end of the southern hemisphere season, in March and April. “Our plums tend to be available later than other origins and they can also be exported by sea to reduce costs,” said Prowse.

“Exchange rates are always an issue to manage and the last five years have been volatile. The crash took it to a five-year low in late 2008 and that is now steadily increasing to almost higher than mid-2008, which is making Australian exports more expensive in the UK than ever.”

However, Prowse reports that volumes of Australian stonefruit to the UK increased from a negligible amount to 1,500 tonnes by 2007 - even against a rising currency - thanks to effective promotion and high-quality fruit meeting retail and consumer expectations.

“This provided a quality difference to other fruit on the market,” said Prowse. “Volumes then dipped progressively in 2008 and 2009 due to the exchange rate, induced non-competitiveness in 2008 and reduced demand due to the global financial crisis in 2009.”

Australia is now sending more volume to Asian markets such as Thailand, Hong Kong and Singapore.