The upcoming Polish apple season is being shaped by uncertainty over prices and conflicting information about the size of the crop, says Mohamed Marawan, managing director for Polish apple exporter Sarafruit: "The season is already shaping up with more challenges for exporting, as the prices for apples are very volatile. This is due to speculation, not due to informed market decisions by traders and exporters. Farmers and growers are the ones losing out because of all of this speculation."

Conflicting views on the crop
While some estimates point to a substantial decline in Poland's apple production, Marawan says the situation on the ground looks different. He believes the crop is stronger than some of the information circulating in the market suggests. "Growing the apples will be both easy and difficult, as we see Poland is taking a significant hit in the numbers. Estimates place the national crop at roughly 2.6 to 2.7 million tonnes, representing a nearly 30% drop compared to last year. But when you look around in Poland, this doesn't seem to be the correct information, as we see a larger crop than last year. This gives the wrong information, as traders and exporters seem to want to benefit from creating this illusion that Poland will have a small crop again. In reality, we actually see a solid harvest coming up among our orchards and farmers."

Marawan recently visited Egypt, one of the key markets for Polish apples, where he says the current price situation is making movement difficult across the wholesale market: "When I was in Egypt for my last business trip last week, I met my clients from upper to north Egypt. There, I saw apples from Italy, Greece, Poland, Lebanon, and even Turkey in the wholesale market. But none of them were selling as normal, due to the high prices."

Focus on Egypt
Marawan says the Egyptian market remains attractive, but exporters need to better understand what buyers there require. He points to the former role of the Idared variety as an example of how Polish apples previously maintained a stronger position. "Egypt is really a very good market, but we have to understand what the Egyptian consumers really need, since about three to five years ago, the Polish variety Idared was a very stabilizing variety. It was one of the first varieties available, and there was a big price difference compared to other varieties. Now that the Polish apples have gotten more expensive, this price gap is no longer present. As a result, the Polish apples have been replaced by Italian club varieties in the Egyptian market."

For the coming season, Sarafruit plans to concentrate on its existing markets rather than immediately looking for new destinations. Marawan says quality and closer cooperation with supermarkets will be central to that approach. "Our strategy this year remains to safeguard the quality of our apples, as we always do. Of course, we'd also like to convince more supermarkets to go for the Polish apples. We can then do promotions with supermarkets, in order to compete with the Italian apples. Because I firmly believe that when Polish apples need to compete with the Italians, we can really do it, and we can do it quite easily."

Consolidating existing markets
Rather than expanding into new destinations immediately, Marawan wants to strengthen the markets already served by the exporter. "We are only keeping the markets that we have; we'll try to improve these markets with prices and quality, and maybe when we stand strong in these markets we may develop new markets once again. For now, we just need to focus on the markets we have."

"Weather has also added pressure to the season, with late spring frosts affecting fruit set and subsequent heatwaves and localized hail contributing to russeting, hail damage and lower sizing in unprotected orchards," Marawan continues. "The focus will be on maintaining pack-out quality and managing the logistical side of exports as efficiently as possible. "Focus on strict pre-sorting and cold-storage management to ensure maximum pack-out percentage for first-grade fruit."

He also points to shipping costs and market returns as areas requiring attention, with the exporter looking to consolidate routes and negotiate freight agreements early. "Consolidate shipping routes, negotiate long-term container freight agreements early, and push for fairer wholesale price realization."

"Finally, we have to deal with the very important issue of emphasizing Poland's value proposition, maintaining flexible payments and consignment terms for trusted long-term partners in key destination markets," Marawan concludes.

Source - https://www.freshplaza.com