"Pomegranate consumption increases, but market conditions get tougher"

"At the end of last week, we started harvesting the new plantations in one of our farms in Seville. At Mogalla, we have opted for these early varieties in order to provide a wider service to our customers from start to finish," explains Daniel Blanco, Commercial Director of Mogalla.

Yields will be lower, but that will be offset by the entry into production of new plantations. "This is due to the high temperatures we had during the flowering and setting, so we will have slightly larger calibres than in the previous season," points out Daniel Blanco.

Mogalla currently has a total of about 240 hectares distributed among its farms of Seville, Huelva, Badajoz and Don Benito. For this campaign, the Andalusian company expects a production of about 3,000 tonnes of pomegranates of different varieties, with the largest volume corresponding to the Wonderful and Mollar. "We expect to considerably increase this volume in the next 2-3 years when the rest of young plantations become productive, especially those of the Acco, with which we expect to reach 6,000/7,000 tonnes."

For Mogalla, pomegranates have started having an important place in its product range. "This year we have expanded and modernised our Badajoz warehouse, adapting to our production and management needs, as well as to the demands of our customers."

"We are betting on the red and early varieties, but also maintaining and giving a boost in some areas to the classic ones, such as the Mollar and the Wonderful. We're also keeping a close eye on the rise of new varieties. For the past few years, we have seen the appearance of many new varieties with different hybridizations and origins that we still don't know how they'll work agronomically or commercially speaking, but which seem to be in the path of finding an optimal balance between exterior/interior colour and flavour," states the Commercial Director.

According to Mogalla, the pomegranate is a fruit that, thanks to its magnificent properties, is earning a great reputation, which is giving a boost to its consumption. "We can now practically buy them at any time of the year, as they are imported outside of our production season," affirms Daniel Blanco.

However, according to Blanco, "the market conditions are increasingly tougher due to the excess supply from many origins and from our own country. Pomegranates are very sensitive to many factors, which makes the fruit a very volatile product," he explains. "Countries like Turkey, Israel or Egypt produce a significant volume of pomegranates with very competitive production costs. They manage to ship their fruit at prices that in many cases make the sale of our pomegranates more difficult."

"At Mogalla, what we are mostly trying to do is position our products and brand in the markets through programs that ensure a volume and a price guarantee. We know very well that, in order to achieve this, we need to carry out thorough and professional work which, together with our wide range of products and volumes, ensures a good customer service. And all of this is done with control over the entire production process, from field to plate," he added.

Mogalla is planning to start exporting pomegranates to the Asian market. "Already last year we did that also with other products, such as citrus fruits and kakis, with interesting results."