Spain: Almeria's watermelons to arrive later in a good market

The pepper and cucumber campaign is coming to an end in Almeria, while the Netherlands is gaining an increasingly dominating position in the European market. During the winter, prices have been generally high for many products, such as peppers, tomatoes or courgettes, which is why growers have waited longer to switch from these crops to water-melons. Therefore, the watermelon campaign will come later this year, with a delay of between ten and fifteen days.

"We are preparing for the watermelon harvest after devoting all our resources to the product," explains Indalecio Acién, of Indasol's commercial department. "Every year we specialise more in seedless watermelons, moving gradually away from melons, since producers have not been satisfied with them in recent campaigns because of their low profitability."

According to the exporter, European distributors tend to extend their programs with overseas melons and start as soon as possible with Murcia-grown melons, which is leaving less and less room for Almeria's melons.

"In the area of Adra, melons do have a very good reputation and sell well in the domestic market, taking advantage of the limited competition they face during their commercial window. But in general, the trend in Almeria is to plant more watermelons each year," he points out.

"Senegal's watermelon is enjoying high prices and good quality at the moment, which makes us think that we will have a very positive start in Almeria, at least until the beginning of May," concludes the exporter.