EU estimate of apples and oranges

More apples to processing due to high storage costs The apple yield in the EU is expected to be around 12.2 million tons in 2022/23. That volume is comparable to that of the previous marketing year and is 2.6% above the five-year average. A record harvest in Poland (4.2 million tons, +5% year-on-year) and a sizeable harvest in Italy (+7%) compensated for the lower than usual harvest in France (-10%). Lower yields were also observed in other EU countries, mainly Hungary, Romania, Spain and Portugal. Nearly half of production is expected to be used for processing rather than storage. This is due to a higher availability of lower quality apples that are not suitable for fresh consumption, but also to low prices, more limited export opportunities and high energy costs for storage. In addition, problems with the availability of seasonal workers in some EU countries delayed the harvest, which affected the quality of the fruit. In total, about 5.8 million tons of apples are expected to ...