Spain: Good campaign for Senegalese and Brazilian imported melons

Just fifteen days before the final stocks of Brazilian Piel de Sapo melons are sold out, the Senegalese produce, which has been on the market for less than a month, will be the one acting as link with the start of the Spanish campaign.

"We currently offer Piel de Sapo melons from both Brazil and Senegal and for now we are very happy with the results of the off-season campaign in terms of prices and quality of the fruit, with truly commercial calibres and very satisfactory organoleptic qualities," says Antonio Agudo, Marketing Director of El Melonero.

Antonio Agudo with his son Ricardo Agudo.

Based in Villaconejos, Madrid, El Melonero is exclusively devoted to the sale of Piel de Sapo melons of all types, shipped from all major production areas of Spain, such as Almeria, Murcia and Castile-La Mancha. During the off-season, melons are imported from Brazil, Senegal, Panama, Honduras and occasionally even Morocco.

Senegalese melons are slowly taking the Spanish market by storm during the off-season period, taking advantage of the gap left between the Brazilian and the domestic production in spring.

"Some companies are strongly favouring this origin, motivated by the occasional complications with the exchange rates of the Brazilian real and the Euro. However, while Senegalese melons offer a very acceptable quality as a result of the country's suitable environment and soil, its growers still face, unlike in Brazil, difficulties and challenges because of the lack of infrastructure," he explains. "We believe they are already achieving good results and that, while further investments are needed, it is an origin with great potential."

Spanish campaign expected with lower volumes of early melons

The virus known as New Delhi has unfortunately had an excessive impact on Almeria's courgette season, causing heavy losses to growers. For this reason, and given the fact that it affects all types of cucurbits, including melons, Antonio Agudo believes that this year fewer producers will choose to plant melons and therefore production volumes in Almería, one of Spain's largest producers, will drop.

"There is much fear amongst growers, and from what we have heard from seed companies, a lot less has been planted. This leads us to assume that there will be lower volumes of early melons than other years, although production should stabilise as the campaign goes on," he says.

El Melonero continues to grow both in Spain and in the rest of Europe

"The fact that this year we have started working with new major distribution chains has led us to increase our sales both in Spain, our main destination, and in the export markets, where we continue to grow in France, Portugal, Italy, Poland and Hungary," he says. "Soon we hope to enter the United Kingdom and Belgium."

The company's melons are available in over twenty supermarkets under the brand EL MELONERO, with four different versions depending on the melon's quality and presentation format: Great Choice, Golden, Black Label and Red Label.

For more information:
Antonio Agudo Contreras
S.A.T. Hnos. AGUDO CONTRERAS (EL MELONERO)
Ctra. Titulcia, 37. 28360 Villaconejos, Madrid. Spain
T: +34 918938081
M:+34 609712798
elmelonero@melonero.com
www.melonero.com