Due to the cold weather in Europe business was still rather slack at the start of the season. “We started with limited volumes, but demand is not very high yet. It is worth noting that bigger sizes are already available at the beginning of the season compared with other seasons,” Willem van Rooij of Hispalco says.
“Our growers have cultivation areas in the south of Murcia, where the sizes of stonefruit are very good right now. We loaded the first apricots from Murcia on Monday, and the sizes (AAA) are fairly good. But expectations are sizes will be smaller when they start harvesting in Cieza, due to the frost that hit the cultivation there hard,” Van Rooij says.
“We are mostly working with stonefruit from Murcia right now, but in a month we will head back to Lleida again. I will go there at the end of the week. Only then will I know how production there will develop, but I personally think stonefruit from Huesca and Lleida is qualitatively better. We expect good volumes of peaches, nectarines and paraguayos, and a regular course for the season.”
Van Rooij is looking ahead to the season with confidence. “As always, we will follow our own rhythm. I am not bound by programmes or contracts. I can make a special selection because of this, as our customers expect to receive. Our strongest markets are still Europe and the Middle East, but we are getting increasing demand to export our brands to Asian countries such as Singapore and Hong Kong, where we are slowly starting to introduce our brands,” Van Rooij explains.
Hispalco will also introduce the brand ‘Hippie Chic’ for nectarines and peaches in a first class category this season. “We already presented this brand during the latest Fruit Logistica in Berlin, and our customers are showing more and more interest in it.”