"We started harvesting the first Clemenules at the end of October. The fruit's ripening is about fifteen days behind, so the rains recorded a month ago have not taken a toll on the quality. If the fruit had been ripe, the damage would have been much greater," explains Alfons Royo, manager of Frutas Royo, of Alcanar.
"Given that the ripening is delayed, and that the frequent rains have forced us to stop harvesting many times, we have so far marketed substantially fewer kilos than we had by this time last season, and it is difficult to meet our commitments with the supermarkets," he says.
New pinewood box with a lid.
However, a positive reading can also be made of these circumstances. "In the previous campaign, in the producing areas of southern Catalonia and the north of the province of Castellón, we were finishing the Clemenules campaign in the first days of January. This year, we will have a longer campaign, with availability of quality fruit up until the end of January. We will also avoid peaks in market availability, as is usually the case with this popular clementine variety," says Alfons Royo.
According to the producer and exporter, unlike other producing areas, "the size of citrus fruits has not been negatively affected in the south of Catalonia, where we have more homogeneous calibers."
Alfons Royo, at the latest edition of Madrid's Fruit Attraction.
Royo Fruits ships its citrus fruits mainly to European markets like Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Scandinavia. It also exports clementines with leaf to the United Kingdom and France, among others. "Due to the abundant rainfall this year, for now we will focus on exports to European destinations and avoid shipping over long distances overseas, as we would risk the fruit not arriving in the desired condition to its destination," says Alfons Royo.
The company continues to innovate with new packaging formats and presentations, such as the special packaging for Halloween and a special Christmas one, as well as a new pinewood box with lid, which is in great demand. "We seek to give extra value to a type of fruit that is often 'abused' by the market. With our new and attractive presentations, we offer a more premium product that allows supermarkets to sell citrus fruits at higher prices," says the exporter.
For more information:
Alfons Royo
Royo Fruits SL
T: +34 977 71 91 51
M: +34 655 162 643
royofruits@royofruits.com
www.royofruits.com