More On Apple Industry

More On Apple Industry. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Fruit Grower Report.

Yesterday we began a chat with Todd Fryhover, the president of the Washington State Apple Commission on how sales of last years record apple crop was going domestically but there are some issues internationally.

FRYHOVER: On the export front it’s been relatively difficult this season. We’ve had China close so we have no legal access into China as of August and haven’t had any resolution to that as of today. We also have a few issues in Indonesia which is a large market for our small Red Delicious specifically.

Fryhover says that has to do with some new enforcement regulations that are prohibitive or limit the amount of people that can be involved in importing apples.

FRYHOVER: There’s some positives to be taken out of even these two terrible situation in China and Indomesia, number one: Indonesia takes small sized fruit. This season we have a lack of supply of small sized apples. And China is a very unique market in that it has a legal access for Red and Golden Delicious but has a gray market access for all other varieties.

Strangely that gray market channel is very important to apple producers who ship roughly a million boxes of Granny Smith and Galas combined in to that market.

That’s today’s Fruit Grower Report. I’m Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network.