Spain: Orri mandarin production to triple in a few years

After successfully completing the regularization of the plantations of this late mandarin that existed before March 2013, ORC has started working on the defence of the interests of its more than 360 associated producers, conducting inspections in order to detect unregulated farms in partnership with The Enforcement Organization, SL (TEO).

The first legal actions against those civilly or criminally accountable for irregular operations with Orri mandarins have been carried out in the regions of Murcia and Andalusia, which is where the largest unregulated farms are located. Similar investigations are being conducted in the rest of Spanish citrus-growing areas for the purpose of gathering evidence to pursue further legal action in the short term.

Such actions are being carried out after closing a major regularization process in 2015 that entailed starting work with the labelling and management system, developed by ORC, in all major citrus-growing areas in the country. Given the youth of many of these plantations, the production marketed during the season that is now ending has been estimated at about 26,000 tonnes; figure which could be tripled in a few years and reach 80,000 tonnes.

The characteristics of this late mandarin and the business strategy based on controlled supply have allowed the Orri to be sold in the premium segment, with record prices at origin (between 0.8 and 1.1 Euro/kg) and destination (3.6 Euro/kg on average). These figures consolidate it as the flagship protected citrus variety in the European market, with profitability for all links in the chain. The current production has actually generated a turnover of close to 94 million Euro, and when young trees come into full production, this figure could increase to 240 million Euro.

The Orri is originally an Israeli mandarin that is doubly protected by both the Spanish and EU authorities. It was developed by the Volcani Center Institute (Israel). Some of the features of this late hybrid include its ease of peeling, its virtually zero content of seeds and its excellent organoleptic qualities, with a high sugar content that gives it its magnificent flavour. It has a really tough skin of a very attractive bright orange, which allows for excellent conservation in both the tree and post-harvest and post-sales, and with a very long harvesting period which in the Northern Hemisphere lasts from January to May. This allows for shipments to be staggered and for a better planning of the campaigns, both in productive and commercial terms.

Thanks to the efforts of ORC, today no one in the market can ignore the identification systems in place for the regularised Orri. Advertising and other measures have helped clearly differentiate the origin of the fruit and, therefore, to distinguish those with a legitimate origin.

ORC's dedication to collaborate in the defence of the interests of the plant variety is such that it is creating the website www.orcspain.es (which will be launched soon) and in which the public will be able to access news, information and an agenda of activities conducted by ORC. ORC even plans to implement a tracking system and GPS map of the regulated farms so that anyone can check whether the origin of the Orri fruit is legal (or not) under the TEO licenses.