Record fruit harvest drives rush at Salzburg juice presses

A record fruit harvest is driving heavy demand at juice presses across Salzburg, ORF reported. Apples and pears are producing very strong yields for the third consecutive year, while around 20 presses in the state are processing the crop.

The harvest has started earlier than usual because of high temperatures and many hours of sunshine in recent months. The fruit press in Strobl, in Salzburg’s Flachgau region, has also begun operating unusually early.

Farmers and hobby gardeners bring their fruit there and can soon take home juice made from their own produce. “Everyone comes to us, from farmers to doctors. Almost anyone with a fruit tree in their garden has their juice pressed,” said Lukas Fössleitner of the Strobl press. Farmers with traditional orchards also use the service and often sell the juice themselves.

Yields have been strong in most parts of Salzburg since spring. Josef Wesenauer of the Salzburg Association for Fruit Growing and Gardening said some areas were reaching record levels. Last year, the Lungau region had particularly large quantities of fruit; this year, the Flachgau region is seeing abundant core fruit, as well as a very good plum harvest after poor yields in recent years.

The harvest is at least three weeks earlier than in previous years. In Faistenau, at an altitude of about 780 metres, fruit that would normally be picked in mid-September was already ripe in August, Wesenauer said.

The press in Henndorf, also in the Flachgau region, has now started operating and expects to process up to 500 tonnes of apples and pears this year. By the national holiday, it is expected to produce about 250,000 litres of juice and cider.