"In the past two or three seasons, our production had been smaller and with larger calibres, but this year the situation has been reversed as a result of strong winds and rains during the blooming period in May and June. Only 30% of what we have harvested are large calibres," explains José Carlos Vila, manager of the company Kiwi Atlántico. "Overall, this problem has affected almost all producing areas in Europe, but in Spain it has been much more pronounced," he adds.
Given that Spain barely consumes small calibres, sales have been very tough. "Supermarket chains also demand small sizes, although not in large volumes, while wholesale markets just do not want them and this sales channel represents 40% of the total for the kiwifruit in Spain. Prices are around 50% lower in the domestic market when sizes are not large," according to the representative.
This situation has forced the Galician company to export again after several campaigns focused solely in the domestic market. "In the final stretch of the campaign, we had to find buyers for a large quantity of small calibres and we exported to markets such as Morocco, Canada and the UK."
"Fortunately, the organoleptic quality of the fruit has been very good, both in terms of flavour as well as sweetness and texture, as there were more days of sunshine. This has helped us turn a bad campaign into something not as disastrous," he states.
"The campaign should have already finished for us, but this year it will be extended by about 10 or 15 days."
The production area has grown slightly in Asturias, and overall, taking also Galicia into account, it is about 5% greater than last season. Spain produces about 15,000 tonnes of kiwifruit, while it consumes about 80,000 tonnes, making it the European country with the highest per capita consumption.