Representatives of key apple and pear producing and exporting countries from around the world met on 6 February 2015 at the recent Fruit Logistics fair in Berlin for the annual general meeting of the World Apple and Pear Association (WAPA). During its annual meeting WAPA elected Mr. Daniel Sauvaitre (ANPP – France) as its new president replacing Peter Beaven (Pipfruit New Zealand – New Zealand) who chaired the association for the last two years. At the same occasion, Mr. Todd Fryhover (Washington Apple Commission – USA) was elected as the new vice-president of WAPA.

WAPA released in Berlin its annual consolidated crop forecasts for the forthcoming southern hemisphere apple and pear seasons. Collected from industry groups in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Chile, New Zealand and South Africa, the forecast showed that the 2015 apple and pear Southern Hemisphere crops are expected to reach 5.542.000 MT and 1.583.000 MT, respectively. For apples, this represents an increase of 5% on the 2014 crop; while forecasted export figures decrease by 5% to 1.723.056 MT.

For pears, an increase of 5% on the 2014 crop is recorded while forecasted export figures are expected to have increased with 4% at 752.638 MT. However, it needs to be noted that the figures for Argentina are likely to change given heavy hail at the beginning of February 2015.

Source: http://www.perishablenews.com/index.php?article=0042364