Peppers under pressure, tomatoes still struggling

"We had a few days with very high prices due to the lower production, but this joy is already past and supply levels have once again stabilised. In any case, when prices are high and there are many swings, consumption is ultimately affected," states Stephan van Marrewijk, of Vicasol's commercial department. "Furthermore, Israel is shipping more peppers right now, which will push prices further down."

The tomato production, taking all types and varieties into account, which was not affected by the temperature changes, has remained remarkably high, thus brining prices to lower levels than last year. "Tomato prices do not come even close to those achieved last season. Morocco's competition has been very strong this year, given that they are exporting more. If the temperatures drop in the next few weeks, production could have a chance to fall and then prices would go up."

Fortunately, "we can export tomatoes to the U.S. market, where we are having a good campaign with high prices, given the low availability of tomatoes in Florida and Mexico," points out Stephan. "Since last year, we are the only company in Almeria licensed to ship tomatoes to the U.S. market. It is a pity that this year we are no longer able to export peppers to this market, but luckily we can continue exporting them to Canada."

The prices of Italian peppers of the Palermo and Ramiro varieties have also increased and, according to Stephan, an upward trend has been observed in their consumption in European markets. "The demand for this type of pepper is higher than last year's, for which we have opened and continue to open new programs," he affirms. "At the moment, even though production is also growing in Almeria, there is a good balance between supply and demand," he adds.