Philippe de Leusse is a French broker and exporter of Spanish fruits. His company, Verafruta, is based in Alicante. Verafruta's fruit is exported mainly to France, Poland and Italy. They are also in contact with Russia, Hungary and Romania as potential markets.
Talking about this year's stone fruit harvest he reports some mixed results, though, generally, he says, things are good.
"It is good because, for two months now, we have had very little rainfall. This has given the cherries, peaches and nectarines a good, sunny, growing period."
However, it has not all been plain sailing, as Philippe explains. "There were some freezes earlier on during the flowering period, which had a an effect on some of the fruits notably apricots and also, in Murcia, nectarines for example."
The damage was not limited to Spain, as Philippe points out, Greece, Italy and France were similarly affected - which has helped Spain to retain its place alongside some of its main competitors. This is important for the country right now as it struggles against the effects of the financial crisis in parts of Europe.
"Spain's economic situation does not give any confidence in the market. Regularly companies, large and small, are faced with bankruptcy and this causes concern further down the supply chain."
Another piece of fortune, from a supply and demand balance point of view, is that the early bad weather forced down demand, as it is wont to do in the case of stone fruit.
"The bad weather meant that there were less people wanting to buy stone fruit in the export destinations, which meant that, though supply was limited, it was enough."
Philippe says there is good quality, big size fruit available, but also, due to the complicated weather conditions, a lot of second grade quality also.
When discussing this year's harvest and its effects on prices, Philippe notes on upward trend.
"It is dependent on the quality of the fruit, but in general prices are higher than last year for sure. This may be different next week because we expect more volume, but generally the pattern is for higher prices."
For more information:
Philippe de LEUSSE
Verafruta
Tel: +34 637118520
Tel (France): +33 649593272
verafruta@gmail.com
www.verafruta.com