Apples remain a staple fruit in Germany despite poor harvest

Apples continue to dominate the German fruit market, although the current season's harvest fell by 12.4% compared to the 10-season average to 872,000 tonnes, the weakest since the 2017 harvest, according to data from the German Statistical Office (Destatis). Compared to last season, the harvest was down by 7.4%. The poor result was attributed to adverse weather conditions, including late spring frosts and heavy rains, which led to crop losses of up to 90% in parts of the country's eastern regions and depressed yields everywhere except in the state of Baden-Württemberg, where farmers enjoyed a bumper harvest. The province is Germany's leading apple producer, with the harvest up 19.4% compared to the 10-season average to 395,400 tonnes, accounting for 45% of the country's total this season. Lower Saxony followed with 258,200 tonnes, although the result remained 10.3% below the average for the last 10 seasons. In contrast, in Saxony and Brandenburg, the harvest collapsed by 92.6% and ...