Despite an extremely dry and hot summer in 2015, the Czech Republic's overall fruit harvest has increased by 24 per cent year-on-year to 188,462 tonnes, which is the best result since 2006, Radio Prague has reported.
One of the main reasons behind last year’s results was a favourable climate in spring with no frosts and rare occurrence of hail, according to the head of the fruit grower’s union, Martin Ludvík. On the other hand, he added, hot weather and lack of rain affected the quality of some fruit, especially apples and pears.
The harvest of apples last year increased by 19 per cent to over 155,000 tonnes and was the highest in the past seven years.
However, because of the drought, most of the fruit was smaller and more than half of the apple harvest, around 60 per cent, had to be processed into juice. This will of course affect profits, since apples intended for further processing are sold for a lower price. Under normal circumstances, about 60 per cent of the country’s apples are sold for direct consumption.
According to the country’s Fruit Grower’s Union, production of fruit in the Czech Republic has been unprofitable in recent years. The situation has been affected by Russia’s ban on EU foods, introduced in 2014 in retaliation for Western sanctions, which have pushed down the prices of fruit.
According to Martin Ludvík, the situation could be improved if the country’s fruit growers received more support from the EU’s Rural Development Programme, Radio Prague reported.
© 2016 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by László Juhász. To subscribe to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine, click here.
