English Gala growers have been praised for the quality of their fruit this year and advised to grow more. The 18,000 tonne crop is the second largest English crop after Cox. But Alisdair Robertson, chief executive of Worldwide Fruits, has also warned that the industry must play to its strengths. “There is no such thing as a generic Gala,” he told growers who have formed a club to keep up to date with the latest technology. The variety is produced all over the world and sold widely through the year. “The New Zealanders are focusing on size, and the Cape is under pressure to maintain a good sized product,” he claimed.
This led in New Zealand to the switch from ordinary Gala to Royal Gala and more recently to strains such as Galaxy and Brookfield. “Chile has sought a quality image and Brazil’s fortunes have hinged on currency fluctuations in the Mercosur economic area.”
But with US supplies increasing to over 250,000 tonnes and the EU topping 680,000 tonnes, a 46% increase since 1996, this apple is now freely available. “The UK product should be managed in the post-harvest phase more like stone fruit, with rapid cooling and the right pressures and flavours,” he said. He added that research figures showed Gala occupied 20.5% of the total UK apple market which was an encouraging statistic for industry hopes of increased share.
English supermarkets can expect an approach from the latest New Zealand apple export group, Yummy Fruit, as a result of deregulation. Among its members is John McCliskie, past chairman for more than a decade of the New Zealand Apple and Pear Marketing Board, who has a detailed knowledge of the retail sector, and board member John Paynter. The new group is already the largest supplier to the domestic market, and anticipates exporting around one million cartons next year.
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