Europe: Smaller sizes and lower volumes of apple due to drought and heat waves

The current apple harvest for 2022/23 was initially estimated by WAPA at a volume very similar to that of the previous harvest. However, since August 2022, several Member States have registered additional drought and heat waves that will lead to smaller apples and therefore lower volumes. In the case of Poland, the Member State with the largest volume, it has been reconfirmed that the harvest estimate needs to be adjusted to what is salable. There are several preliminary sources of information about the size of this harvest; these indicate that the final estimate may be smaller than expected, mainly due to, among other things, labor shortages. The volume of Polish apple stocks on 1 July 2022, part of which has been carried over to the current marketing year, amounted ...