NH apple suppliers eye India gains amid Turkey shortage

India’s imports of Northern Hemisphere apples are under way, with key importers reporting a “positive” trading outlook. 

While India’s domestic apple production is at relatively “normal levels”, supply from Turkey, which has become one of the major import origins, is set to plummet after early spring frosts hit the crop.

India’s apple imports grew by 10.7 per cent to almost 520,000 tonnes in 2024, and Turkey accounted for some 23 per cent of the volume, ranking second only to Iran (26 per cent).

This year, however, imports from Turkey will be negligible, according to importers, paving the way for other supplying countries to make gains.

Shubha Rawal, head of procurement for IG International, said the shortage of Turkish apples has “created some supply gaps in the global apple market, particularly for popular red varieties”.

“As the Northern Hemisphere season unfolds, we’re seeing a natural realignment in global apple trade. With Turkey’s reduced availability, suppliers from Europe and the US are stepping in to bridge the gap,” she said.

“Countries like Italy and Poland could play a bigger role this season, supported by steady harvests and efficient logistics. The US crop is expected to see sustained export interest, particularly from Asian and Middle Eastern markets that favour premium fruit.”

In India, Yupaa’s Parth Karvat thinks Poland will be one of the main winners. “We’ll see a lot more Polish apples shipped to India this year because the Turkish crop is way down,” he said. “India will depend a lot on Poland for Royal Gala and Washington for Red Delicious as well as on Italy and Iran.”

The Washington apple industry shipped 2.1m cartons of apples to India in 2024/25. With a record crop on the cards this season and shipments under way, Sumit Saran, India representative for the Washington Apple Commission, said the industry was hopeful of ramping up volumes. 

“We hope to have reached 1m boxes by the beginning of February and more than 3m boxes by the end of the year,” he said. 

Italian apple consortium Vog is seeking to regain ground in the Indian market this season. Sales manager for India Andreas Picher said there is strong demand for its fruit from a range of markets, including Europe, South America, North Africa and the Middle East. Nevertheless, he is hopeful of rebuilding exports to India, which have suffered in recent seasons.

“In the past, we would send more than 1,000 containers to India, but last season we only sent a few containers to remain present in the market because of long transit times,” said Pircher.

“This year, with good quality and better prices, we hope to ship 200-300 containers as shipping should become easier. Transit times should be around 30-32 days, rather than 45-50 days, now the Suez has reopened.”

Gagan Khosla of NGK Trading said that while Turkey will ship “virtually nothing”, he expects Iran to “fill that gap”.

“Still, it should be a good season for European suppliers,” he added. “Washington has its unique position in the market and will keep doing okay as well.”

Turning to varietal trends on the apple import market, Khosla said Gala has overtaken Red Delicious as the most popular variety. Other varieties are also gaining traction, he noted.

“Fuji remains in demand and Pink Lady is making headway,” said Khosla. “There’s been mixed reaction to Cosmic Crisp, but I feel it’ll do okay in two or three seasons.”