On Monday, a hundred boxes of Mollar pomegranates from Elche have been shipped to a number of European destinations by the Protected Designation of Origin, which is doing it free of charge as a gift to people from the Region of Valencia currently living in Europe. The initiative is part of the campaign "El Nadal és valencià" ("A Valencian Christmas") and has been organized by the regional government.
The president of the Protected Designation of Origin Granada Mollar de Elche has been "pleasantly surprised" by the good reception that this initiative has had, since "the first 50 orders that we had initially planned were made in less than four hours. Seeing the great response we had and the words of gratitude and congratulations we have received, we decided to expand the campaign and make an effort to add 50 more orders, thus reaching the hundred."
However, Francisco Oliva says that "there have been about a hundred more orders that we've unfortunately been unable to meet, because it was impossible for us to continue increasing the number of shipments. That has left us with a bittersweet feeling, but we hope that in the future they'll be able to make it in time and participate in this initiative."
As for the shipments, they will reach about twenty different countries. Most of the orders have been placed in the United Kingdom, Germany and France, which account for more than 60% of them all, but the fruit will also go to Belgium, Switzerland, Hungary, Italy, Portugal, Austria, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Malta and Iceland, among others.
Requests to participate in this campaign have come from a number of municipalities, mainly from Elche and Alicante, but also from many towns in the Vega Baja, as well as from Valencia. There were also some from Castellon that didn't meet the deadline. The president of the PDO is therefore "very satisfied by the response and interest that this initiative has generated across the Region of Valencia."
Most of the orders have been placed by parents for their children, with more than 40% of the total, followed by siblings (23%) and friends (15%), as well as spouses and other family members: cousins, uncles and aunts, grandchildren or brothers/sisters-in-law.
All of them, as Francisco Oliva points out, have expressed their gratitude. "They told us that it was a fantastic idea and that it would surprise and delight their family and friends."
Many of them have told us that pomegranates are a typical fruit that they usually consume at this time of the year, so they will surely bring their relatives many pleasant memories.
In the boxes of Mollar pomegranates of Elche, "we have included a postcard featuring the name of the person who has requested the shipment. In it we explain that the box of PDO protected pomegranates aims to bridge the gap and make them feel truly close to their family and friends. It is a way to bring them the flavors of their land and tell them that they are missed. We also invite them to share the pomegranates with the people around them and to become ambassadors of the Mollar pomegranate abroad," says Oliva.
Throughout the week starting on December 10, the boxes should be reaching their destinations (depending on the country). They should get there on time to surprise those who are going to return home for Christmas, and to allow those who won't make it to enjoy them around that time.