After years of inaction from successive German governments to open up new export markets for fruit growers, the impending price falls driven by the Russian ban were the impetus for one leading apple shipper to take matters into its own hands in October last year.

Klaus Lutz and Cristiane Bell

During Fruit Logistica in Berlin this month, representatives of BayWa AG (DE: BYW6) told www.freshfruitportal.com the company had engaged in market opening discussions in China and South Korea, helping to pave the way for Food and Agriculture Minister Christian Schmidt's team to take the reins.

"We are not in a position to export from Germany to South Korea or China - this is a very unpleasant situation, because in Germany the previous governments had a different ideological approach about how to take care of agriculture, that it should be more organic and locally oriented," BayWa CEO Klaus Lutz said.

"In reality we are already an export nation, not only in automobiles and other industries, but in the agriculture business. However there was no one who from a political point of view was working on that, although BayWa was very aggressively pushing forward that approach.

"We had the team in Beijing at the end of last year and we had some people in South Korea. Now we are working hand in hand with the Federal Government to open these markets, but it will take time; it will not be a short term solution for the problems our growers have now, in the Lake Constance area especially."

More specifically, BayWa fruit general manager Christiane Bell visited Beijing and Lutz visited Seoul.

"We have some very experienced partners that have a Chinese employee there, and she set up some meetings for us with two retailers - Benlai and Wumart," Bell said.

"I also had meetings with someone from the government. It was not the phytosanitary department yet but someone from the chamber of commerce, from the agricultural division.

"What we did not expect though after we had the opportunity to visit, is that our government applied to find out what we would need to do to export to China, and they came back to us in only one week...I think our visit there was not a mistake."

Lutz said the South Korean authorities had not been so quick in outlining steps, but the company had taken part in productive meetings with government representatives and embassy officials from Germany, the Netherlands and the European Union.

"We can learn from what the Dutch are doing there," he said.

He highlighted Schmidt had been very active to try and change the situation for German export markets, but with all the certificates and protocols needed, the issue would take time.

"It's really ridiculous, unacceptable, that the European Union – one of the biggest agri markets in the world – is not able to harmonize their marketing approach to Asia or to all of the world.

"The Netherlands, France and other states are much more effective with their agri exports. They are already very successful in the Chinese and other Asian markets, but Germany is in the very beginning, and this is really a disaster."

 www.freshfruitportal.com