Quality testing opens opportunities

Quality, as we don’t need to tell growers, is king.  

Higher quality apples command better pricing and boost demand, giving growers and distributors stronger negotiating power. Customers who repeatedly purchase high-quality apples are more likely to become loyal, translating into repeat business and increased market share. Moreover, superior-quality apples have longer shelf-life and less spoilage, reducing waste and boosting profit margins.  

In a crowded market, growers who consistently deliver exceptional apples have a competitive advantage, enabling them to differentiate their products and command higher prices. 

The industry is dedicated to lifting profitability for growers. In tandem with reducing domestic oversupply through export and the removal of underperforming blocks, lifting demand is central to improved pricing and profitability. But if consumers aren’t eating beautiful fruit, they will abandon the product. Market research shows that a poor experience means consumers might take 6 to 8 weeks until they come back – a wasted opportunity for an industry struggling with oversupply. 

At the 2024 Industry Forum, APAL’s Head of Industry Services, Justin Smith, was joined by Nardia Stacy, Executive Manager of Pomewest, to talk about the success of the long-running Western Australian quality testing program and the launch of the new APAL program. 

APAL has engaged independent firm Quality Associates to collect loose and pre-packed commodity fruit from Aldi, Woolworths and Coles in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne – all from stores with very high volume where fruit moves quickly. These apples (Gala/Pink Lady) and pears (Williams/Packham) are then tested for Brix (sugar), pressure, bruising, blemishes and blush, and the results reported to industry on a monthly basis. Over the past 12 months over 15,000 pieces of fruit have been sampled across 3,000 batches. 

Justin explained that the APAL program was focusing on the top twenty – by volume – packhouses supplying fruit on the east coast as these accounted for around 80 per cent of fruit sampled.  

Packhouse performance on average Brix and pressure for each variety is published monthly. Only results where at least 10 pieces of fruit have been tested are reported. If a packhouse’s fruit does not meet the industry standard two months in a row, its name is made transparent to the cohort of twenty (and only to this cohort). A pass in a subsequent month returns the packhouse to anonymity.  

“The Quality Project aims to provide a better understanding of the fruit quality across the industry,” Justin said. “APAL will use quality data to inform orchard programs and communications. The aim here is to improve together and raise the consumer experience, not to conduct a witch-hunt to oust packers.” 

Justin said the failure on pressure of three packhouses for three months in a row published in the most recent report highlighted the opportunities for improving quality through change of practice. 

“To have Gala apples failing at this time of year indicates that perhaps too much fruit from last year pushed through to February and March,” Justin said. “Failure rates are high on the Williams pears side, too.” 

Nardia spoke about the success of Pomewest’s seven-year-old quality testing program for WA growers. She said the industry-driven program aimed at improving standards provides weekly reports on Brix, pressure and starch for Gala, Granny Smith and Pink Lady apples. 

“Initially, growers were getting a 30 per cent fail rate,” Nardia explained. “But just having people looking at quality and growers being aware of the program improved quality by 50 per cent. The Pomewest Chair [at the time] wanted to go one step further by naming the growers and packers, which at first seemed a bit scary but, with the industry and committee behind us, we started doing that and fails dropped to 10 per cent.” 

“Growers believe in the program. They are working together to make a difference,” she said. “WA is travelling really well at the moment because of programs like this. People are now complying with our program, testing fruit before sending it to market. If they’ve failed, they’ve come back, started to pass, and they’re getting involved with our other programs, too.” 

Nardia noted that even the best and biggest industry players experience fails, but this encourages them to do things better. “That’s fine, we just have to try harder,” one grower told her. 

Industry benchmark data is available to APAL members via apal.org.au/member-hub/quality/.

Justin Smith, APAL’s Head of Industry Services, and Nardia Stacy, Executive Manager of Pomewest, talked about the success of Pomewest’s quality testing program and the launch of the new APAL Quality Program.

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