The Senegalese watermelon campaign has recently kicked off and production with a good taste quality can already be purchased in some Spanish supermarkets and fruit stores. Although the volume available in the market is still not significant, larger volumes are expected within ten or fifteen days, since at this time, they are still on the way by boat, en route to Spanish ports.
Melon shipments from Senegal will also arrive soon, so imports from Brazil will be reduced.
Senegalese melons and watermelons have become quite popular in recent years, especially in the Spanish market. Many marketers have decided to supply Senegal's products. In fact, a number of auctions have already announced on their websites that they will have Senegalese melons and watermelons this year.
With so many companies producing or buying watermelons in Senegal, industry sources warn that there could eventually be market saturation, since at this time of the year, the demand for watermelons is not very high, at least compared to the summer months, due to the still mild temperatures.
"There is uncertainty in the sector about whether the market will be able to absorb such an amount of watermelons and how this will affect prices. In fact, the Spanish watermelon campaign (in Almeria) could start with lower prices compared to the previous year," warns a Spanish marketer.
With regard to melons, there are supermarket chains and wholesalers who prefer to wait for the harvest to start in Murcia.
"In Almeria, the acreage devoted to melons continues to fall, losing ground to watermelons. In general, there has been a greater bet on quantity than on quality, and this has entailed declining sales, given the availability of many other types of fruit, such as grapes, stone fruit, tropical fruits, etc.", says the marketer. "As time goes by, we need to offer better melons to be able to maintain their market share," he adds.