Viveros Hernandorena has started 2024 with its stone fruit plant sales campaign underway, expecting to reach 200,000 plants this year, 25% of which will be bare root plants, a new commercial format for this nursery that is allowing them to offer the same quality and varietal reliability at more competitive prices.
"This will be our first year with a significant commercial volume of bare root stone fruit plants, with more than 50,000 of them. This is a sales format that is allowing us to market plants competitively without quality being compromised in any way," says Rosa Hernandorena, Commercial Director of Viveros Hernandorena. "It is important to note that production and labor costs have significantly increased over the last three years."
This is not a novelty in itself, but it is for Viveros Hernandorena, which until now had been specialized in potted stone fruit. "With this production and sales line, we aim to offer a better service to those producers who are launching large production projects and need more affordable plants. Bare root plants help keep production and logistics costs down, and customers can benefit from that saving," says Rosa Hernandorena.
"This bare root plant format is also allowing us to reach large production volumes in nurseries and undertake large export projects, like the one we have been finalizing in recent days, with a shipment going to Armenia," she says.
Advantages of the bare root plant
"Keeping in mind that their origin is also a mother plant and that they adhere to the same production and plant health protocols as potted plants, bare root plants are somewhat more robust and developed. They have a larger size and a more robust root system," says the Commercial Director.
"And although the ideal transplant period goes from December to February, a time of dormancy and, therefore, of no stress for the plant, we have refrigerated chambers that allow us to adapt to the needs of producers if the weather conditions require them to delay the planting," she says.
Coexistence of the two formats
This year, Viveros Hernandorena will market about 50,000 bare root plants, and the prospect for next year is to reach 100,000 plants. Still, this sales format will coexist with the potted, which makes it possible to meet the needs of producers all year round, as the pot allows the transplant to be carried out at any time.
Market opening
The opening of the markets of Catalonia, Aragon and southern France is what motivated the company to start this line of work. These are production areas with large projects, where the demand for bare root is the norm. "We have been working in southern France for four or five years, increasing our sales every year, and our focus is currently there, as well as in Catalonia and Aragon," says the Commercial Director.
Stone fruit is increasingly in the hands of large professional companies
According to Rosa Hernandorena, the stone fruit sector is currently in the middle of a transformation process and plant sales are rebounding:
"From 2000 to 2010, there was a tremendous revolution at the varietal level and a lot was planted. However, not everyone is willing to produce and sell stone fruit, due to the technical difficulties involved, the product's short commercial shelf life and the growing competition from other products. Many farms already gave up after the Russian veto in 2014, but since the times of the pandemic, change in the sector has accelerated, and non-specialized growers have been disappearing. Stone fruit cultivation is increasingly in the hands of large companies with a high degree of professionalization and process integration, which plant on demand to meet the needs of their customers while keeping a close eye on the production costs."
Viveros Hernandorena will once again be present at FIMA (from February 13 to 17 in Zaragoza); an event strongly focused on the nursery's current targets and with an outstanding presence of end customers. You can find them in hall 1 - stand E/28-32.
For more information:
Viveros Hernandorena
Tel.: +34 96 253 26 81
info@hernandorena.com
www.hernandorena.com