No 10.46 but only 7 million tonnes of apples in the EU

During the Prognosfruit congress on 7 August, the World Apple and Pear Association (WAPA) announced the 2025 estimates for the European apple and pear crops. 

Just after the announcement of the crop estimate, I got into a conversation with Georg Gallmetzer, fruit grower in North Italian South Tyrol and chairman of the Arbeitsgruppe Zukunft Landwirtschaft (working group Future agriculture and horticulture). He asked me a simple question: “Why are we always talking about the total production including fruit for processing and not about the production of apples for the fresh-fruit market? 

Of the total European apple crop of 10.46 million tonnes, approximately 3.5 million tonnes are designated for processing during harvesting or sorting. Of the total European apple harvest of 10.46 million tonnes, less than 7 million tonnes ultimately remain for fresh consumption.

Read the full text of the editorial in the September issue of EFM here