The recent storms registered in Extremadura, as in many other Spanish producing areas, will cause a slight reduction in the Picota del Jerte production volumes at a time when the campaign is only just starting with the sale of the first batches.
"The Picota campaign has only just kicked off, so we hope that from now on there will be no more storms. This year, there were already prospects for lower production volumes for both cherries and picotas, but the rains are expected to have caused another slight decline, of around 5% compared to the previous year," states Pilar Díaz, of the Marketing Department of the Regulatory Board of the Protected Designation of Origin Cereza del Jerte. Around 7 million kilos of picotas are expected to be harvested this season.
In any case, despite the weather, Pilar assures that the quality is still good. "The fruit has a good consistency and sweet flavour a few days before it starts ripening in the highest producing areas," she points out.
Picotas are sold without the stem, as the fruit naturally separates from it when it falls from the tree, as opposed to cherries, which retain the stem after they reach their optimum maturity. Most notable are the differences in texture, flavour and colour. Picotas are firmer and redder, with a tougher flesh than cherries, so they always have a 'crunchy' bite. The five varieties marketed are the Ambrunés, Pico Negro, Pico Limón Negro and Pico Colorado.
Picota exports continue to increase
The growth of Picota del Jerte exports has been remarkable since the PDO started conducting promotional actions 17 years ago. "At the time when we started our promotions in the international markets, in 1998, we were only able to export around 10% of the production, and today we ship about 70% of our fruit overseas," affirms Pilar.
Now the Regulatory Board of the DOP Cereza del Jerte is organising promotions to encourage consumption in the UK, Italy and Brazil, where they believe interesting commercial activities could be developed in the future.
An example of this is the UK market, which in addition to absorbing 70% of the Jerte cherry exports, is the destination for 80% of the picotas. "The key to the success of the Picota del Jerte in the UK market is that consumers have learned to differentiate it from cherries," points out Pilar.
"We only entered the Brazilian market last year and we'll continue this season; as for the Italian market, we'll be making a return after almost ten years absence."