Australia's peak industry body for pome fruit says quality improvements, a stronger U.S. dollar and healthy eating campaigns in the domestic market mean prospects are looking up for the 2015 campaign. 

Apple and Pear Australia Ltd (APAL) CEO John Dollison told www.freshfruitportal.com although the country chose not to export to the U.S., some key Asian markets paid in U.S. dollars and could therefore find Australian imports more attractive than before.

"We certainly have an advantage this year over last in the sense the [Australian] dollar against the U.S. dollar has dropped quite dramatically," he said.

He said this time last year the exchange rate was around US$0.95 to the Australian dollar, but today it was around US$0.76.

"That has an impact also for China which is effectively locked into the U.S. dollar, Hong Kong which is locked into the U.S. dollar, but for most of the Asian countries their dollar has dropped off as much as ours has."

Mainland Australia cannot yet export to China due to the presence of fruit fly in the country, but Dollison said APAL would try and address the trade protocol issue 'over the next couple of years'.

Exports from fruit fly-free Tasmania to China and Taiwan could be given a lift, however, due to the overall quality boost this season, which Dollison said was largely a result of improved growing practices throughout the industry as well as good weather.

"We learned our lessons from the excessive heat in 2014, and quite a few of the orchards have got above-tree spray systems to cool the fruit down, and we've also progressed more with netting - it's actually taken a lot more risk mitigation, we've got problems with heat, we've got problems with birds, problems with bats," he said.

"So there's much more of a crop now being covered in netting, either permanent or temporary, if it's in the higher country where snow's a problem. It's been a very good growing season."

He said of the total 311,000 metric tons (MT) of apples expected to be produced, there would probably be an additional 15% of class 1 fruit year-on-year, as well as better sizing.

"That's obviously a challenge for us in that we want to increase our exports, so it doesn't just drop in price on the domestic market," Dollison said.

Like many other Southern Hemisphere apple-producing countries, the APAL head said he was expecting growth in Asian exports in the future, but given the higher production costs compared to most competitors the industry would have to focus 'very much on premium products, premium marketing, quick access and getting into that niche market at the top end.'

Dollison also highlighted that only around 1% of Australia's apple crop was currently exported, but he hoped this would increase over time.

In terms of the domestic market, Dollison said it was looking very good as there had been increases in per-capita consumption of pears and APAL was working to try and do the same for apples.

"The snack food industry's had a major impact on general fruit and vegetable consumption and we're now starting to see a bit of a reversal of that trend. People are a little bit more conscious about the quality of the food they put in their mouth, so hopefully we can see a change in that direction," he said.

"We've also got a new campaign on apples coming out talking about the refreshment side of apples and the value to you in terms of eating an apple."

'Writing on the wall' for smaller varieties

Taking a closer look at production and varieties being grown in Australia, Dollison said there had not been any significant orchard expansion, but rather hectares for both apples and pears that were seeing varietal conversion.

"In the case of pears we've made a conscious decision to remove a lot of our Williams pears, which is very much a processing pear, and there's a series of new varieties of pears that have gone in to complement that," he said.

"Some of that pear production has actually been converted over to apples, with more of a movement into the various Pink Lady varieties.

"We're got quite a lot of plantings of the new proprietary varieties like Jazz...also Rockit, the smaller apple, so there's been quite a bit of planting of the new varieties."

Dollison said around 35-40% of Australia apple production was made up of the Pink Lady brand, while Braeburn and smaller varieties were 'struggling to survive'.

"Granny Smiths are holding their own, Braeburn almost doesn't exist in our market," he said.

"Our market is almost dominated by the major supermarkets, they occupy about 55-60% of sales by dollar value, and if they don't want to position your product in their shelves, then it's very hard to find a market for the smaller varieties.

"So smaller varieties tend to be forced to the farmers markets, and really the writing's on the wall if it's not demanded by the big retailers."

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