A few Polish exporters have gone through their entire stock of apples during the current season. Mohamed Marawan, owner of Polish exporter Sarafruit is adamant that he’s happy with the idea of keeping apple in cool chambers “At the start of the Polish season for apples, there was a huge demand for apples however after a time, the market slowed somewhat. The high prices of apples in Poland and the difficulties of locating good quality apples has affected supply, slowing it. Our apples went in about a month. The lessons we learned in the past taught us that we should never store our apples in cool rooms, waiting for prices to increase, only to gain a few pennies more. Our goal is to deliver high-quality apple to our customers right immediately. In this way, we will prevent any issues with the quality of our apples when transporting the apples and can be a result of placing the apple in a cooler for long periods of time.”

Normally, trade is great in the lead up to the Christmas season. However, Marawan declares that this is not this year. “The holiday season is usually highly appealing for apple farmers as well as traders and companies. This year however, the situation is entirely distinct. The pace is very slow, it’s a little less selling going on in comparison with previous Christmas times in the past, or the year before. Polish apples aren’t competing in international markets. Prices are high, and the Polish Zloty is in a strong position. Customers begin looking for other destinations to purchase their apple from that offer appealing costs. We have learned there are several countries that Turkey, Serbia, Ukraine, Moldavia and Bulgaria have been producing really top quality apples for affordable prices, which makes appealing to clients.”

Because prices are soaring and apple varieties are difficult to locate, those who want Polish apple are looking towards other markets to purchase from. Marawan states: “Many of the clients have decided to go to Turkey for apples due to the fact that they’re not able to locate apple trees in Poland Can you believe that? They’ve begun to look more widely for alternative countries to bring their apples to. Apples are exported to Gulf countries. I’ve also received a call from a client that he’s beginning to place orders for more of Serbia because of the lack of apples available that we supply. Our customers have decided to expand their business into other countries.”

Polish apple farmers faced quite many challenges in the course of their cultivation as well as the effects of these challenges is being seen today. “The illnesses that plague the apples certainly had some impact on the present state of affairs. If we observe the farmers when we come to them for apples, it is evident that the apples have lost their hardness as well as becoming rotten which is only two months since harvest. The reason for this is the scorching temperatures that prevailed in Poland throughout the autumn. The farmers were awaiting the most coldest temperatures before picking for the purpose of enhancing the color of the apples. However, the weather didn’t cooperate on us this time. Fungal infections, along with the dryness of summer caused by lack of rain caused a decline in the quality of apple, which means that they cannot remain in storage for an extended period in cool chambers.” Marawan concludes.

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Mohamed Marawan

Sarafruit

Tel: +48 537 935 155

Email: office@sarafruit.eu

www.sarafruit.eu

Source: The Plantations International Agroforestry Group of Companies