"Spanish melon volumes drying up: lots of space for Brazil"

The Spanish melon season is ending quickly. "Due to the persistent heat from June the harvest has been moved forward considerably and the season is now also ending sooner. The Galia melon is the first to have quality and volume problems. The Cantaloupe will soon follow and then the Spanish supply of the yellow melon, watermelon and Piel de Sapo will reduce," expects commercial director Leon van den Hombergh of Frankort & Koning.

He looks back at a difficult Spanish melon season. "Apart from the exception here and there, the market has been weak all summer. There was quite a large production and combined with disappointing weather in the sales markets, this resulted in a difficult season. Now the supply from Spain is quickly reducing, as is the supply from other production countries - such as the watermelons from Italy and Hungary and the Cantaloupe melons from Italy and France - and are leaving the market quickly."

First Galia from Brazil

"This means there is space for the Brazilian melons and the first demand will be for good quality Galia. The retailers are really waiting for this," says Leon. Frankort & Koning are expecting the first supply of Galia from Brazil next week, from their partner Agricola Famosi. This year all melons are Rainforest Alliance certified.

According to Leon it's impossible to tell how the season will go. "The melon market remains hugely weather dependent. In recent years we have seen that Brazil can put the European market under huge pressure with large volumes. If they send these volumes again, I don't see why it would be different. The start of the season looks positive at least. The cultivation conditions were good, although the drought, among other things, isn't making production in Brazil any easier.

For more information:
Leon van den Hombergh
Frankort & Koning
Venrayseweg 126
5928 RH Venlo
Tel: +31 (077) 389 72 72
Fax: +31 (077) 382 61 34
www.frankort.nl