"Our stonefruit production in 5 weeks has been the same as last year's in 10"

The stonefruit campaign is almost finished for the Murcia-based company Campo de Blanca, which is eagerly awaiting the start of its table grape campaign, whose harvest will begin in early July.

"The stonefruit campaign has been marked by abundant supply and low demand, which has resulted in disastrously low prices," explains Cristina Terán, of the sales team at Campo de Blanca.

"Given the low demand in the first four weeks of the stonefruit campaign and the big volume available, (a result of the good climatological conditions which have also led to the production of excellent quality fruit), the cooperatives and export companies were forced to sell the fruit for any price, causing a general collapse of prices in the sector. Large supermarket chains were aware of this situation and, of course, have taken advantage of it. We were forced to gather all our producers together to explain them the market situation," explains Terán.

According to Cristina Terán, statistics reveal prices to be, on average, 30% lower than in the previous season. "Our last stonefruit campaign lasted about 10 weeks; this campaign will last 8 weeks, but after 5 weeks, we have already marketed the same volume as in the previous season, with prices up to to 30% lower."

The company produces peaches, nectarines, paraguayos and apricots, which are mainly exported to European countries. "We don't ship stonefruit to destinations with transit times longer than 10 days."

Given the results of the stonefruit campaign, Campo de Blanca has its hopes placed in the table grape season, which will kick off in early July with white and red seedless grapes. "We expect, as in the case of stonefruit, a campaign with considerable volumes and very high quality, given the good weather conditions during the winter and spring," she points out.