The pear market seems to be running smoothly during the second half of the season. "There is really nothing really holding back the pears at the moment. Trade is flowing in all directions and the markets we serve are running well," says Wendy Bangels of BP Fruitcraft.
The Kortenaken-based trading company, founded by Wendy together with Tim Pittevils, exports mainly pears, but also apples and strawberries to England, Spain, France, Scandinavia, among others. "Demand is actually very good. You can also feel that in the prices, as they have increased by about 30 per cent in the last month. It's stagnating a bit at the moment, but who knows, it might move up again in the coming period."
Qualitatively, the fruit is also holding up well in storage for now, Wendy explains. "Here and there we are starting to hear some stories about problems, but all in all I am not too bad. However, it is notable that especially the smaller sizes of Belgian pears are running well for now. The thicker pears are a bit more difficult. You also notice this in the prices, as the smaller ones have gone up, but the thicker sizes have rather dropped or remained stable over the last month. This is then also due to the fact that smaller sizes are scarcer abroad, so volumes are bought in Belgium."
Whereas the general mood remains positive for pears, it is "clearly" a different story for apples. "This is obviously going to be difficult. In Berlin, I spoke to some people who were quite optimistic. They were few, but they were there. I don't actually dare say how it will turn out. This remains impossible to predict." With another important product group for BP Fruitcraft, strawberries, it also remains to be seen for the time being. "Belgian strawberries are practically non-existent, of course. This is all being slowly restarted now, so we expect to start strawberries again in a month or two."
For more information:
Wendy Bangels 
BP Fruitcraft
+32 470 95 79 05
[email protected]
www.bpfruitcraft.com