Since 1992, Marcel de Koning has worked in the Spanish fruit trade. As of last year, he’s been commercial manager of Agribur in Vall de Uxo. He expects a large citrus harvest to sell this year. “The production of Clemenules is about 20 per cent higher, and the Navelina production is also significantly higher than last year.”
However, sizes of the tangerines are very small. “We expect Agribur will pack about 40 million kilos of citrus this season. Hopefully, the rain from the past few weeks will help get some larger sizes, because Navelinas don’t look very large either. The quality of the Clemenules and Navelinas is much better than last season, though,” Marcel says.
Agribur has a broad range of citrus, varying from Clemenrubi, Oronules, Clemenvilla, Marisol, Ortanique, Nadorcott and Orri tangerines, in addition to an orange assortment consisting of Navelinas, Navelate, Lane Late, Salustianas and Valencia Late.
“In the past, we were mostly known as an exporter of leafy tangerines, but in recent years we’ve also started offering a broad range of citrus without leaves,” Marcel continues. “Yet the leafy tangerines will always remain our showpiece. It’s a trend as well, customers want to see how fresh a product is, and that’s possible with leafy tangerines.”
“About 80 to 90 per cent of our trade is focused on export. We have customers in France, Belgium, Germany, Norway, Austria and Switzerland. Our citrus can be found in the best supermarkets in France and Germany, for example. That is because we’re not distinctive with our volumes, but with quality. Some customers buy two pallets, other customers buy two full cars.”
Agribur is currently also starting with the production of organic citrus. They’re also working hard on trying to find a packaging made from organic plastic, to meet customers’ demand. “Another typical characteristic of our company is that all of our fruit is packed without chemical treatments after harvesting, we only use natural wax.”
“The packaging options and brands we carry are endless,” Marcel concludes, who isn’t planning on moving back to the Netherlands. “I only come to the Netherlands to visit.”
For more information:
Marcel de Koning
Agribur
Tel: +34 679 811 147
comercial@agribur.es
www.agribur.es