György Raskó: there won’t be enough apples even for domestic consumption

By: Trademagazin Date: 2024. 09. 03. 11:22

This year, significantly fewer apples will be harvested in Hungary than last year: the harvest will decrease by around 150,000 tons, which portends serious supply problems. The domestic harvest will not be sufficient to satisfy Hungarian consumption, so a serious price increase is expected.

According to agrarian economist György Raskó, this year’s crop is well below average years. Only 90-100 thousand tons of food grade apples can be expected, while 200-220 thousand tons of apples can be produced for industrial purposes. However, these quantities fall far short of domestic demand, which would require at least 110,000 tons of edible apples and 400,000 tons of juice apples.

A drastic rise in apple prices can already be expected. According to data from the National Chamber of Agriculture and the Hungarian Fruit and Vegetable Association, the purchase price of apple juice jumped to HUF 75-80 per kilogram, which is almost double last year’s prices. In the case of edible apples, a 25-35 percent price increase is expected.

Market sellers also sense the change in prices. Speaking to ATV, one of the traders said that the price of almost all products has doubled, not only apples, but also grapes and melons.

There are several factors behind the weak harvest: due to last year’s abundant year, the trees were “more stressed” this year, and the weather was not favorable for the harvest either. The situation is made worse by the fact that the harvest in the European Union is also weaker than average.

For other autumn fruits, such as plums and peaches, there are no similar problems yet, although the peach season is coming to an end, and the plum season is still a few weeks away.