"The natural flowering tends to increase the fruit volumes"

The pineapple market in Turkey is not very active. Due to the summer, there is currently an oversupply of domestic products that take the place of the so-called "exotic products." It is important to mention the celebration of Ramadan as a significant factor affecting the behaviour of the final consumer.

The Russian veto has greatly affected the company's prospects; Sánchez affirms that Russia demands a lot of fruit mainly late in the year. "Right now, we are getting everything ready to export there. This includes renewal of certificates and other special permissions," he explains.

The natural flowering is also starting this week. "This year, the bulk of natural fruit is expected between weeks 25, 26 and 27," according to the company engineer Marco Soto Valverde. This natural phenomenon, result of the climatic conditions in February, caused stress to pineapple plants and resulted in an earlier harvest of the fruits that were not planned for these weeks. This phenomenon tends to mainly increase the volume of fruit of sizes 8, 9 and 10, and this is why the volume of fruit available for export grows. Depending on the market, there can be a decrease in prices due to an oversupply of these calibres during the natural fruit period.

This year, and during the weeks with natural fruit, the participation of the agro-business sector in Costa Rica's domestic market should result in the volume of fruit of these sizes available for export not being as significant as in previous years.