Spanish melon and top fruit season considerably delayed

"The Spanish melon season has been delayed by about two to three weeks as a result of the cold weather. Normally speaking the Almeria season should almost be over and be followed by Murcia, but that may still take a few weeks," Jan Willem Tolhoek of Global Fresh Trade from Vleuten says. "For that matter it is not that bad for the market because demand is at a minimum as a result of the cold weather. In principle we are saved by the cold weather, because there is still not much demand."

With Galia's, yellow melons, Piel de Sapo, watermelons and the first Cantaloupe melons the entire melon assortment is available. Also the first peaches have arrived a while ago, but also for these demand is low. "If the weather in Spain is normal again in the next three weeks, production may well make up, but otherwise I fear that various production regions will be on the market at the same time," the trader says.

"The Spanish strawberry season was full of difficulties with a lot of quality problems because of the bad weather and especially the rain. Now at the end of the season the quality is very good and the demand is good as well, as the Dutch production lags behind," Jan Willem concludes. All in all we could use some sunshine and higher temperatures for the coming weeks.

For more information:
Jan Willem Tolhoek
Global Fresh Trade International BV
Tel: + 31 (0)30 2985000
Fax: + 31 (0)30 2985009
Cell: + 31 (0)615469611
info@globalfreshtrade.nl
www.globalfreshtrade.nl