This year there is less fruit per hectare and bigger calibers in the Valencian Community. In spite of everything, the high prices paid in the field are not being compensated for by sales prices, according to Vicente Ramos, Operations Director of Albenfruit.
"This year the weather has been better. On the same dates last year we had suffered large losses due to abundant rainfall, which caused rot and skin damage such as the 'pixat', especially in clementines."
"The fruit's ripening process is very advanced thanks to the lower temperatures at night. It is so advanced that the producers that tend to delay the cutting of the fruit to sell it later at higher prices are having a very rough time and can have serious shrinkage problems. We think we'll finish the campaign soon because the fruit is so mature and there are fewer volumes per hectare this year."
Albenfruit has two state-of-the-art filling stations that have a total of 35,000 square meters, a 10-year-old account and the new plant, practically annexed, that was opened just a year ago. The company is based in Algemesi, in the province of Valencia, and sells around 80 million kilos of oranges and tangerines.
Albenfruit also produces clementines with leaves, which it sends mainly to the markets of France, Germany, Switzerland, and Italy, where they ship them starting January, when the Italian production is scarce.
Vicente Ramos, who has been working in the sector for 33 years, joined the management team of Albenfruit recently. "The citrus world has changed a lot since I started working in it. I remember the time when the auctions in Rotterdam and the Rungis market marked the sale prices of citrus in Europe. Nowadays a high percentage of the market is operated by large distribution and there are fewer brands left. However, the good brands still manage to achieve good prices. The level of the citrus market is constantly improving and it is harder to compete with new fruits that fill out the supermarket shelves, like the subtropical fruits or the kaki." The Valencian company has its Alben and Zar brands.
Albenfruit exports 90% of its products, mainly to Germany, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Italy, Belgium, France and Eastern countries. This company produces nearly 25% of what it sells, and buys the rest from producers from Valencia, Castellon, Andalusia, or Tarragona.
"The sector changes varieties more and more quickly."
According to Vicente Ramos, the Orri is the best tangerine variety, depending on where it is grown. "The Clemenules are the best free variety that we can offer in the Valencian Community, as they originated here. It has a perfect balance between sweetness and acidity. Lately, producers tend to plant late and protected varieties. There is a revolution at the varietal level thanks to the research being carried out by public and private institutions. In this sense, the sector is changing more and more quickly."
Some German supermarkets already include the clementine variety on the labels.
According to Vicente Ramos, the Orri is the best tangerine variety, depending on where it is grown. "The Clemenules are the best free variety that we can offer in the Valencian Community, as they originated here. It has a perfect balance between sweetness and acidity. Lately, producers tend to plant late and protected varieties. There is a revolution at the varietal level thanks to the research being carried out by public and private institutions. In this sense, the sector is changing more and more quickly."
Some German supermarkets already include the clementine variety on the labels.
Why is it so complicated to produce organic citrus?
According to Vicente Ramos, at the moment, the cultivation of organic citrus fruits in Valencia is not very viable. "The Valencian countryside is organized into smallholdings, which makes it very difficult to control what happens around your plantations, and the chemical treatments carried out by other producers can easily end up affecting you in one way or another. That's why we don't see any organic citrus plantations in the Valencian Community and you can find them in Andalusia, which is organized into large estates, which guarantees a much more uniform production control."
For more information:
Vicente Ramos
Albenfruits
Ferrers, 16 - Pol. Ind. Cotes B
46680 Algemesí
Valencia · Spain
T: (+34) 962 481 263
vlramos@albenfruit.es
albenfruit.es
According to Vicente Ramos, at the moment, the cultivation of organic citrus fruits in Valencia is not very viable. "The Valencian countryside is organized into smallholdings, which makes it very difficult to control what happens around your plantations, and the chemical treatments carried out by other producers can easily end up affecting you in one way or another. That's why we don't see any organic citrus plantations in the Valencian Community and you can find them in Andalusia, which is organized into large estates, which guarantees a much more uniform production control."
The orange juice boom presents opportunities
The orange fruit, and easily peeled citrus fruits, such as mandarins, have gained a lot of market share. Consumption of orange juice has grown a lot in recent years, especially in Spain, which is a citrus producing country and its consumers are very familiar with them. The Spanish citrus sector should take advantage of the large drop in production experienced by Brazil and Florida due to the Greening plague, which incidentally is beginning to worry Spanish producers, as some cases have been reported in Portugal. We must control it before a disaster occurs.
For more information:
Vicente Ramos
Albenfruits
Ferrers, 16 - Pol. Ind. Cotes B
46680 Algemesí
Valencia · Spain
T: (+34) 962 481 263
vlramos@albenfruit.es
albenfruit.es