With the European apple import season due to get underway next month, the head of one of India's largest produce companies expects a 'decent' campaign with reasonable prices.

IG International director Tarun Arora told www.freshfruitportal.com the first harvests in Europe were set to begin in the coming week, with imports to commence soon after that. 

"We've had a massive crop of Indian apples this year, so currently there are enough for the market. I don’t foresee that we will initiate for another two or three weeks for sure," he said.

Shipments will begin with Royal Gala before moving on to other varieties.

"We foresee good demand for imported apples and especially European apples, because the Europeans tend to take more advantage of the counterseason here in India, more so than Latin America and North America," he said.

"I think they are in a good position to supply a decent amount of volume."

Arora expected European production levels to be similar or slightly higher than last year.

"We have not heard yet what the [U.S.] Washington crop will be like, it’s still a little bit too early. However, I’m certain that European apples will make a decent amount of improvement in the Indian market," he said.

"In Washington there seems to be a changing trend toward newer varieties and shifting the focus from varieties like Red Delicious. I think we have to be primarily dependant on Europe for Red Delicious."

In terms of club varieties in India, Arora said interest had not been growing at the high rate seen in many other countries, with a limited number gaining traction.

"I foresee a decent future in the Indian market for club varieties, I would say, but the trend for them is not massively increasing," he said.

"Price is a factor associated to it, and also not many apple club varieties look into India as a big market and carry out campaigns or big promotions."

"So we’re seeing a bit of Pink Lady, a bit of Kanzi, but none have taken off really except for Evelina - it's probably the one variety that's done okay with decent volumes."

Red Delicious and Royal Gala remain the firm favorites of Indian consumers, according to Arora. But he added that countries other than the U.S. were also turning focus away from the former.

"Chile has been a significant supplier for us from Latin America. However if you look at the trend out of Chile the overall Red Delicious production is going down - many growers have pulled out," he said.

"It’s very difficult to source enough Reds and you have to work with multiple suppliers - not any one supplier can give you enough. On the other hand there's a positive trend on the Royal Gala, which has become a really significant force, so certainly we will see larger amounts of Royal Galas coming in from Chile.

"However the overall decrease of Red Delicious has been more than the increase in Royal Galas, at least in the last one or two years, but I see Royal Gala shipments to India over the next five or ten years increasing from Chile."

Small volumes of Red Delicious and Royal Gala are imported from New Zealand, but Arora said the significantly higher price tag made it difficult for them to compete with Chilean apples.

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