The harvest of the Valenciana pomegranates kicked off late last week in Elche, the fruit's main producing area in Spain. The harvest has been delayed by around 8 days due to the dry weather and high temperatures recorded during the summer, and there will also be an abundance of medium and small sizes.
"Now the first sweet pomegranates are reaching the market," says Susi Bonet, commercial manager of the Cambayas cooperative, referring to the Valenciana variety, which is similar to the Mollar, but earlier and with a paler color.
"It's not going to be a campaign with large calibers, since we're going to have a shortage of pomegranates weighting 400 grams or more." In recent years, the markets have been demanding more and more large calibres, more than we really have in Spain or other countries. We believe that buyers should be aware of the reality; otherwise, we would harvest only around 10% of our fruit; a little more in the case of the early varieties, such as the Valenciana," explains the producer and exporter.
As for the market conditions, Susi Bonet explains that they are marked by a quiet demand and stable prices, like those of two campaigns ago. "As of late September, the demand usually picks up. It is a fruit that is associated mainly with the autumn months. We will be facing strong competition from Egypt, which offers very competitive prices thanks to the devaluation of its currency. Just like Turkey's, Egypt's pomegranate production has been increasing at a very quick pace."
The harvest of Mollar pomegranates will start in October. This variety's production will also be characterized by the predominance of smaller sizes, although Mollar calibers are usually larger than those of the Valenciana, since they are harvested later. We expect about 7 million kilos of Mollar pomegranates."