Hail storm causes small harvest

As stated in German Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food (BLE) market report 09KW/15, the mandarin hybrid "Queen" has been traded on the Frankfurt Frischezentrum (wholesale market) for the first time ever this year. The natural Satsuma mandarin hybrid with an unknown pollen plant is a very young variety with a special appearance. Boris Wadowski from Lindner GmbH Fruchtimport und Handelsgesellschaft, a leading dealer on Frankfurt wholesale market for many years, reports: "We had originally planned to sell the new mandarin variety here in Frankfurt. Unfortunately there were weather-related crop losses for producers. Therefore, the harvest was less than expected which meant that the mandarin was only available in small quantities." The Lindner GmbH always endeavors to deal with the latest fruits and vegetables at Frankfurt wholesale. The merchant reports, that due to the crop failure, the regular customers were served first this year. "As a new customer, we unfortunately ended up with nothing. However, the Queen was only available in extremely small quantities. We are talking about very small amounts, a matter of a few pallets.”

Hail caused significant damage
José Pujante, Managing Director of CITRONET Servicios Online S.L., wanted to sell the queen mandarin this year for the first time to the German market. The Lindner GmbH is one of his customers. He says: "We had problems with production due to hail. Our crop was not completely ruined, but it has suffered considerable damage. "The company had originally planned to place high quality mandarins with beautifully designed boxes on the German market. The Queen Mandarin is an expensive and exclusive variety," says Pujante.

Easy to peel and sweet in taste
"Unfortunately the hail also small skin defects in the current production," explains the Spaniard further, "We had to sell them in a net to supermarkets and not to wholesalers as originally planned." The Queen mandarin is a late mandarin variety. It is grown from mid-February to April. Josè Pujante says, "The mandarin has a very beautiful color, with red to dark red skin that is easy to peel. The Queen also tastes delicious." The mandarin is also almost completely seedless. "Normally, the mandarin is 100 percent seedless, but of course it can happen that isolated seeds are inside.”

The Queen: Rare and exclusive
The sale of the Queen would have been a premiere for Citronet. "We wanted to sell the mandarins this year for the first time ever, primarily to Germany. Unfortunately due to the weather conditions this year did not succeeded. "Citronet has its own brand" VEGA CECILIA ". The company markets various products under this brand, including the queen mandarin. Pujante purchases the mandarins from a producer from the Murcia region. "The Queen is an expensive variety. Only a few people know about them and how to grow them. The plantations are also still relatively new, between four and five years to a maximum of six.

For more information:
Boris Wadowski
Lindner GmbH Fruchtimport und Handelsgesellschaft
Josef-Eicher-Str. 10, 60437 Frankfurt
Tel. 069-401008-0
b.wadowski@lindnerfood.de
www.lindnerfood.de

José Pujante
CITRONET Servicios Online, S.L.
c/ La Paz 4, 30.130 Beniel (Murcia)
España
Tel: 0034 608 414349
citronet@hotmail.com
www.citronet.info