Brazilian apple growers could be in for a bumper crop next season after a recent coldsnap brought -25°C (-13°F) wind chill conditions to the state of Santa Caterina.

Brazilian Apple Producers Association president Pierre Nicolas Pérès, told www.freshfruitportal.com the cold weather is good news for the industry, following a season marked by rains and storms which affected fruit quality.

"This year was quite complex, we did suffer a cold and rainy period during the blooming, some high altitude areas suffered of heavy frost and part of the production was lost, and apples in the other areas were marked by russets. The rain was responsible for pollination deficiency, the fruit's bearing wasn't even," he says.

"Then huge storm with hails have destroyed a lot of orchards and a lot of apples were marked by small marks. Excess of rain during the gala picking will result in a softer fruit this year.  Taste is good, color is very nice but pressure will be less than usual.

"The cold weather we have is very positive, the dormancy will be of a good quality and if it continues that way we will probably have a bumper crop."

Brazil shipped a total of 76,879MT of fresh apples in 2010 with Argentina as the largest importer, followed by Chile, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Uruguay, Peru and the U.S.

www.freshfruiportal.com