"We hope to produce 70,000 tonnes of watermelons and 20,000 of melons"

"This campaign will entail a great effort for both the company and its producers. The goal is to supply the market with the best in these two product lines, which are highly demanded in the European continent around spring," says Manuel Martínez Daza.

Watermelons accounted for 19% of the company's production last year, with 58,000 tonnes. Of these, 42,000 were seedless varieties. Meanwhile, melons had a share of 6%, with 15,000 tonnes. "Both figures will increase next year. We expect to reach 70,000 tonnes of watermelons and 20,000 tonnes of melons. 70% of the watermelons and 20 of the melons are sold outside of Spain," explains the commercial director.

This year, the company will again market watermelon varieties such as the Nega, with and without seeds, with a special focus on the Fashion, the Crimson, and also the Yellow and the Mini. As for melon varieties, the most common are still the Piel de Sapo, Yellow, Galia and Cantaloupe.

Grupo Agroponiente watermelons are already on the market under the brands Fashion, Hortni, Poniente, Premium and Dulce de Vega. Meanwhile, melons are sold under Bombón de Agroponiente, Poniente and Dulce de Vega. All of these undergo strict quality controls, which means that each piece is harvested at the optimum point of ripeness.

Manuel Martínez Daza says that "Grupo Agroponiente has been working together with its customers and farmers for more than 30 years, achieving sustained growth. For this new season, a growth of around 7% is expected."

Martínez Daza also analysed the market situation and pointed out that "in the latest campaign, there was again an increase in foreign competition, although the experience and capacity of our companies and producers has allowed us to continue improving our quality levels, which is important when competing against other countries."

The commercial director also says that "the European fruit and vegetable market is becoming tougher every year, namely because of the pressure from third countries, which are shipping larger volumes each campaign, and also due to the Russian veto, the swings in the demand and, now, also to Brexit. However, ​Almeria has notable competitive advantages, from our privileged climate to the exceptional quality of our products, fruit of the know-how and experience of our producers. To this we must add decades of relationships with the best customers in the continental market. Our product has a great reputation and our faith in it is unbreakable."