"Lemon market moving towards organic and late vareties"

"After the storm and last week's snowfall, which took a toll on much of agriculture in south eastern Spain, we believe that its impact has not been serious for Murcia's lemon crops," explains Enrique Fuentes, of the commercial department of Hijos de Alberto del Cerro.

"The images of snowfall on lemon farms may have led some to suspect there had been a major disaster; fortunately, our lemon plantations were not subject to the critical conditions caused by the feared frosts. In any case, this campaign has not being climatologically optimal to obtain a quality product, as there have also been heavy rains since autumn, something very unusual in Murcia.

These abnormal weather conditions will cause a slight reduction in the estimated harvest volume at the beginning of the season. More fruit of poor quality will be allocated to the processing industry and shipments intended for fresh marketing will be reduced.

As for the situation in the markets, Enrique affirms that "we always try to see the positive side of the situation. Although prices have been significantly lower compared to last season, and export volumes have been somewhat lower than expected because of the inclement weather, we have been working side by side with the chains to get reasonable prices for our producers. In this sense, prices have not been high, but have remained stable, and this is good for consumers and, of course, for the sector."

The company, based in El Raal, Murcia, ships most of its exports to Europe, although it is also actively looking for new markets outside; something that can be easier to achieve when you have a booming product.

"In recent campaigns, we have been opening new markets for our lemons in exotic destinations and we believe the fruit still has many opportunities outside Europe. This year, however, will be more complicated because, due to the frequent rainfall, the lemons are more sensitive to long journeys and we do not want the quality to be compromised," explains Enrique.

Trump recently announced that the United States would be pulling out of the TPP, which in turn has paralysed the import of Argentinian lemons. "Whether or not Argentinian lemons gain entry into the US, our company will continue to have growth opportunities both in Europe and in other destinations, as we offer a quality product and a careful service. In this sense, we are committed to diversifying the lemon production with later varieties sold in summer, as well as with organic lemons, following the market trends."

Hijos de Alberto del Cerro will be taking part as exhibitor in Fruit Logistica for the second time. It will promote its lemons of the Primofiori, Verna and Eureka varieties, which they also hope to market as organic soon. "We are involved in a pilot project to produce organic lemons and we would like to talk about it with our visitors in Berlin."

According to Enrique, the demand for organic lemons is growing at an even faster pace than other organic products, as its skin has a lot of uses. "In recent years, we have been increasing our sales of lemons without post-harvest treatments, while reducing the use of pesticides in conventional crops. 70% of the lemons we currently sell are subject to no post-harvest treatments, which was unthinkable just a few years ago," he concludes.

 

You can visit Hijos de Alberto del Cerro at Fruit Logistica, in Berlin, in hall 18, stand A09.