"The damage has not been as severe for grapes, as unlike fruit trees, vineyards are protected with anti-hail nets; this, after all, is not a rare weather phenomenon in the area," says Antonio Caballero Palazón, administrator of Hortofrutícola TOPI and manager of Frutas Torero (photo below). "The nets protect the crop as long as the hailstones are not too large; however, this time they reached the size of golf balls and perforated them, and as such the fruit was damaged."
Despite this drawback, Hortofrutícola TOPI has started the campaign 10-15 day early with the Superior, Sugar One and Prime early seedless table grape varieties, whose production will fall by 30 to 50% compared to last year, "which is not too strange, considering the volumes we harvested last season," explains Antonio Caballero. "Plants slow down their production cycle when the previous year has been one of excessive volumes."
With brands such as TO&PI and TORERO, Antonio will ship its first grapes to Germany, the UK, the Netherlands and the Baltic countries, and to a lesser extent to non-EU countries, such as South Africa or Malaysia. Later they will continue the campaign with varieties such as Crimson, Autumn Royal, Princess and Aledo.
Frutas Torero, along with other entities, forms part of the Professional Organisations of Fruit and Vegetables Hortofrutícola TOPI, which was created to concentrate supply and market larger volumes of stonefruit and table grapes.
For more information:
Antonio Caballero Palazón
O.P.F.H nº 591 Hortofrutícola TOPI
Avenida constitución 15.
30550 Abarán (Murcia). Spain.
T: +34 968 451 536
antonio@frutastorero.com
www.hortofruticolatopi.com