InterviewMembers
The orchard accountant
Teodor Vasile keeps the books for forty fruit farms. He explains where the money goes between blossom and shelf.
By Mara Ellison
· 12 min read
Audio version for members · 15 min
Teodor Vasile keeps the books for forty fruit farms, most of them family-run, most of them smaller than you would guess. He works from an office above a hardware shop, with a window that looks out on, of all things, a car park. We spoke on a wet Tuesday in late September, in the week the last of the dessert apples came in.
What does a fruit farm's year look like from your desk?
Upside down. Everything goes out from February to August: pruning, labour, sprays, netting, fuel. Almost nothing comes in until September. Most of my clients spend six months borrowing against fruit that is still a blossom.
Where does the money go between the tree and the shelf?
On a typical dessert apple, the grower sees between a fifth and a quarter of the shelf price. Packing and grading take a slice, the cold store takes a slice, transport, the wholesaler or the retailer's margin. None of those people are villains. But the grower carries the weather, and nobody else does.
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Teodor Vasile keeps the books for forty fruit farms, most of them family-run, most of them smaller than you would guess. He works from an office above a hardware shop, with a window that looks out on, of all things, a car park. We spoke on a wet Tuesday in late September, in the week the last of the dessert apples came in.
What does a fruit farm's year look like from your desk?
Upside down. Everything goes out from February to August: pruning, labour, sprays, netting, fuel. Almost nothing comes in until September. Most of my clients spend six months borrowing against fruit that is still a blossom.
Where does the money go between the tree and the shelf?
On a typical dessert apple, the grower sees between a fifth and a quarter of the shelf price. Packing and grading take a slice, the cold store takes a slice, transport, the wholesaler or the retailer's margin. None of those people are villains. But the grower carries the weather, and nobody else does.
“The grower carries the weather, and nobody else does.”
What's the number you wish more people understood?
Picking. A good picker is worth their weight, and the cost of picking hasn't gone down in any year I've been doing this. If the price of an apple doesn't move, picking eats the margin. That's the whole story of the last decade, in one line.
Is anyone doing well?
The ones who sell some fruit direct, juice the rest and have a cold store of their own. Owning a cold store is the closest thing in this business to owning time.
And you? Why fruit?
My grandfather had eleven trees and a ledger. I still have the ledger. He recorded every crate, every price, and every frost. It was the first set of books I ever balanced.
22 comments
Newest firstPriya NatarajanMemberOct 3
“Owning a cold store is the closest thing to owning time.” I've repeated that line to everyone I know.
Callum ReyesFounding memberOct 4
The same is true of dairy: whoever carries the weather carries the risk. Would love a follow-up on how growers insure against frost.