Polish apple growers are planting more pears

Some of the Polish varieties will have lower availability as a result of the frosts that occurred last month, says Mohamed Marawan, owner of Polish apple exporter Sarafruit: “The weather over the past month has impacted the Polish production for the new apple season, but not for all of the varieties. The cold weather reached freezing temperatures from -3 degrees Celsius up to -7 degrees Celsius during the flowering time. Thankfully, our farmers already had loads of experience dealing with this kind of weather. As such, they’ve been able to protect the trees from the frost by irrigation and spraying.”

According to Marawan, more and more growers are replanting their orchards to be able to offer more popular varieties. “The variety of apples cultivated is changing every year. Old varieties start to disappear, and other new varieties are already in the exporters’ minds. For example, a new variety of Gala and a new variety of Red Delicious are on their way with more and more volumes. For us, as Sarafruit, we’re investing in replanting the Golden and Red Prince varieties next year, after we finish rebuilding our new facility. This means we’ll do that after the harvest for the new season is finished. Other than apples, I see more areas being planted with pears, which seems to be a new adventure for Polish growers and exporters.”

Prices for Polish apples have been high, and the frosty weather didn’t help in that regard. However, Marawan emphasizes that there are many more factors that contribute to these higher prices: “The weather seems okay now, but we aren’t out of the woods just yet. More hail could be coming at an unexpected time. But we’re hoping that everything is going to be fine from here on out. This will also help with the availability of the apple, keeping the price lower if market demand stays the same. However, we also have to deal with the cost of production, which is already growing further in terms of labor costs, plant protection costs, electricity, and the material for packing. This doesn’t have to mean a further increase in the new season, but it will all depend on these factors when the new season hits us.”

Tags: Poland, apples, pears