Lake Constance fruit growers fear for their future
Lake Constance fruit growers fear for their future
27-8-2026
More and more consumers say they value regionality - products grown in their own region. Yet at the prices fruit growers on the German side of Lake Constance receive for their apples, they cannot supply consumers with regionally grown fruit on an economically viable basis. Low producer prices are threatening the future of their businesses. Only a fraction of the price paid by consumers in the supermarket reaches the grower. In a video on schwäbische.de, fruit grower Markus Maier says that he received just 20-25 cents per kilogram for apples from the 2025 crop, while they were sold in shops for €2.49 per kilogram. “At these prices, our businesses are not viable,” he says. Prices are determined by traders and supermarkets, while growers have to wait and see what price they ultimately receive.
The situation is very different on the other side of Lake Constance, in Switzerland. There, fruit growers, traders and supermarkets jointly discuss the market situation and indicative prices. The starting point is the price growers need to cover their production costs. In other words, prices are built from the bottom up rather than imposed from the top down. In addition, Swiss import duties on foreign fruit give locally grown Swiss apples a competitive advantage over imported fruit.
With the FAIRDI brand, fruit growers on the German side of Lake Constance are trying to secure a place for their regionally grown apples on supermarket shelves once again.