APAL enters second year of Quality Project

Shift to more transparent reporting aims to lift quality results. 

With the start of the new season, the APAL Quality Project will enter its second year of testing and reporting fruit quality as part of the program. The Quality Project aims to increase transparency and drive improvements to ensure high-quality fruit is on supermarket shelves and in consumers’ hands. 

Since March 2024, monthly results have been shared with the top 20 packhouses based on volume of fruit tested, and a live packhouse performance dashboard has been made available to the top 20 packhouses via the password-protected APAL Quality Hub.  

The continuous reporting on Gala and Pink Lady apples and Williams and Packham pears has provided APAL and the top 20 packhouses with a better understanding of fruit quality across the industry, highlighting opportunities for quality improvement through change of practice. 

Throughout 2024, packhouses included in the packhouse performance dashboard were reported anonymously, and packhouses were only identified for underperformance when they failed to meet the minimum specification for Brix or pressure in two consecutive months.  

In the 2025 season, the packhouse performance dashboard will become available exclusively to all APAL members with a secure login to the APAL Quality Hub via the password-protected site. This data will only be available to members and must not be shared with retailers. APAL will be writing to the supermarkets to advise them that under no circumstances should they have access to the data. We consider this an important aspect of the supermarkets acting in ‘good faith’ under the mandatory Food and Grocery Code of Conduct. 

This shift to transparency within the apple and pear industry was approved at the APAL Key Stakeholder meeting preceding the AGM in November 2024. 

As part of this process, APAL will review the top 20 packhouses which make up the packhouse performance dashboard, based on the volume of fruit tested. 

At a time when supply continues to be a challenge for the industry, the insights derived from the APAL Quality Project are critical to ensuring that high-quality fruit that meets specifications is on shelves and able to command a fair price this season. 

The Quality Program aims to increase transparency and drive improvements to ensure that high-quality apples and pears are in supermarkets for consumers to enjoy.

About the APAL Quality Project

Over the past 12 months, APAL has been collecting samples of Royal Gala and Pink Lady apples and Williams and Packham pears (whichever is in season) as part of the industry’s Quality Program. 

To inform the Quality Project, APAL has collected data from high-volume stores across three major retailers in three geographical locations – Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.  

Since the commencement of the program close to 140,000 pieces of fruit have been tested for Brix, pressure, bruising and blemishes. The entire industry performance is available online for APAL members via the password-protected APAL Quality Hub. 

Packhouse-specific performance is reported to the top 20 packhouses with the most fruit tested over the 12 months. The top 20 packhouses make up approximately 80 per cent of all fruit sampled during the period. 

Acknowledgement 

The Quality Project is delivered by APAL as part of the Developing orchardists of the future (LP23001) project. It is funded through Hort Innovation Frontiers with co-investment from APAL and contributions from the Australian Government.  

This article was first published in the Summer 2024 edition of AFG.