Apple Marketing Challenges
From the Ag Information Network, this is today’s Fruit Grower Report. Washington is the number one apple producing state in the nation, but these days it’s becoming more and more challenging to find markets for our delicious apples.
Jon DeVaney, president of the Washington State Tree Fruit Association, says growers usually have a fairly good idea of where their apples are headed …
DeVANEY … “They try to, but we’re seeing a lot of ongoing negotiations on trade, for example, that can lead to some changes in exactly which markets will be viable going forward.”
But DeVaney says the up and down trade talks have caused a bit of uncertainty …
DeVANEY … “We’re seeing some progress on proposed trade agreements or framework agreements at least for some markets that have been good growth markets for us. So, there’s some reasons for optimism that we can make some gains in this process of renegotiating agreements. But it does create some uncertainty over the short term as in some cases, you know, tariffs or retaliatory tariffs are being imposed that could slow some exports.”
Improving consumption closer to home, DeVaney says would be great …
DeVANEY … “There’s also a lot of focus on growing domestic consumption as well. You know, that’s really important as we look nationally at trying to reduce trade deficits and rely more on domestic production, there are opportunities, we hope, to grow domestic consumption in the whole tree fruit category, but apples in particular.”
Making things even more difficult in recent years, DeVaney says growers have seen production costs rising rather rapidly while wholesale prices have been declining overall.
