There is still a lot of Idared apples in Poland, but price records are far away

According to the latest data from WAPA, stocks of Idared apples in Poland stood at 220,000 tonnes at the beginning of February this year. This is obviously a lot, 20 thousand tonnes more than a year ago, but at the same time it is a level far from the records of previous years. At the beginning of February 2019, stocks were at 270 thousand tonnes, in February 2017 275 thousand tonnes and in February 2016 even 280 thousand tonnes. It is worth noting here that all the seasons cited were already after the Russian market was closed to Polish apples.

But WAPA's data also show that in January the "exit" of Idared from Polish warehouses amounted to 40 thousand tonnes, i.e. 10 thousand tonnes less than in December 2021. And this is information which may cause anxiety, because it would mean weaker demand for this variety.

It should be also noted, that Idared variety prices at a sale have been slightly corrected for the average value in March (-2,7 per cent). According to our editorial price monitoring fresh-market.pl currently prices for this variety for caliber 70+ are mostly 0.70-0.75 PLN/kg, which gives an average of 0.73 PLN/kg. This is less than the average for varieties such as Jonagold, Szampion or Ligol (0.78 PLN/kg), but the difference remains relatively small.

Usually the Idared variety gained at the end of the season, when the supply of more popular varieties was already limited. But this year this pattern is unlikely to work, as stocks of all apple varieties in Poland are high, in contrast to demand for dessert goods. And prices in this segment are not falling only because of strong demand for industrial apples, whose prices (for dry industrial varieties) have already exceeded 0.60 PLN/kg.