"We started the stonefruit campaign with great prospects thanks to the fruit's quality and the warm weather expected across much of Europe in the coming days, which is very necessary for consumption of stonefruit," states José Antonio Martín, of Agromartín, member of the Plus Berries group.
Besides having a reputation as a strawberry producer, Agromartín has about 140 hectares of greenhouses in Huelva devoted to the cultivation of stonefruit, from nectarines and yellow and white-fleshed peaches to apricots, flat peaches and plums, supplying fruit until early June.
José Antonio Martín explains that stonefruit production in greenhouses is much more expensive than outdoors; therefore, prices are always higher, although he assures that the difference in quality is remarkable.
"People tend to think that the first fruits of the season are low quality, but the greenhouse makes it possible to modify the temperature and humidity levels naturally, allowing us to supply extra-early fruit with high sugar levels. Furthermore, compared with fruit grown in the open field, meteorological mishaps have little impact, so that the fruit's skin is practically perfect," he affirms.
With them being the first stonefruit batches of the season, prices are high and will remain high until late April, since it is a month with low fruit production volumes. After that, Seville and Murcia will enter the market and supply will start to increase.
"We market our fruit in the domestic market and we also export it to destinations like Germany, the UK, Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Switzerland and Italy. We have conducted some tests in the UAE with extra-early fruit, but their high prices, together with the logistics costs, make them too expensive," points out the exporter. "We enjoy a considerable demand in Europe, with limited competition in April and May; a situation which only changes with the entry into production of Extremadura and Catalonia, so for now it is not interesting for us to ship outside the EU."
This season José Antonio hopes to harvest about a million and a half kilos of early fruit, which will be marketed under the brand AROMAS.
More information:
José Antonio Martín
S.A.T.Plus Berries/ Agromartín
T: +34 959504454
M: +34 637723120
strawberry@plusberries.com
www.plusberries.com