Murcia's stone fruit harvest started a week earlier than expected and the first exports to the European market are already being made with noteworthy amounts of great quality nectarines, peaches and apricots.
"There is plenty of activity this week in the market and we expect a normal campaign until mid-June," says Joaquín Gómez, manager of APOEXPA. "We believe that it will be interesting for us because the harvest in other regions of Spain, as well as in Italy, is suffering delays and only Murcia and Andalusia's production is in the market at the moment, which will avoid overlapping."
Apricots are very important for Murcia, where a switch towards new varieties is taking place, abandoning varieties such as the Mauricio, which has already lost a large market share, and adopting early varieties such as the Mogador, which have superior organoleptic qualities, according to Joaquín Gómez.
Regarding nectarines, "we see that they're gaining ground over peaches and flat peaches, of which we already produced around 40,000 tonnes. Flat peaches are becoming increasingly popular because they are convenient to eat and have a long shelf life. The late varieties also settle very well and can be exported to far away destinations. Next week, large volumes of flat peaches will start being harvested, with Russia being an increasingly important destination market. However, we will have fewer plums, as they did not settle well this year," he explains.
Formed by 30 associated firms, the Association of Producers and Exporters of Fruit, Table Grapes and Other Agricultural Products (APOEXPA), was founded in 1985 with the goal of defending the sector's general interests and improving the competitive position of its members in the foreign markets. It also belongs to the Federation of Associations of Producers and Exporters of Fruit and Other Agricultural Products (FEPEX), where it chairs the Table Grape Commission.
Their most exported products are apricots, peaches, nectarines, plums and table grapes, which cover approximately 80% of Murcia's private producers and exporters, and in the case of grapes, this percentage applies at national level.
One of the main threats to the fruit sector, according to Joaquín, is the access of other countries' production into the European market under different legal requirements. "Countries such as Morocco have easy access to Europe with much lower production costs, because the WTO does not allow the EU to enforce on other countries the same regulations that apply to its member states. However, this does not work both ways, because if we wish to export to other countries, we must meet their phytosanitary and quality requirements," he affirms.
For more information:
Joaquín Gómez
APOEXPA
San Martin de Porres, 3
T: +34 968 20 49 49
[email protected]
www.apoexpa.es
