On Monday, Hagé received the first Cantaloupe Diamond / Gold from their partner supplier Agrolibano. These are the first arrivals on the European continent. “Brazil is practically reaching its end, and with weekly shortages in Cantaloupe varieties during this Brazilian season and an earlier stop from a number of large Brazilian producers, our mutual decision to start Cantaloupe from Honduras earlier this year was obvious,” says Frank Ocampo.
“In recent years, prices for Cantaloupe Harper varieties were always far below par, but prices were good throughout this past Brazilian season. This wasn’t because Cantaloupe was more popular, but simply because less had been planted by growers in Brazil,” Frank explains. “I expect sales prices will remain good for Cantaloupe in the coming weeks, despite a lower melon consumption in Europe during the winter months of January and February.”
“Central America has a number of good Cantaloupe growers, and the biggest of these growing for the European market are located in Honduras and Costa Rica. Guatemala also has Cantaloupe plantations, but these mostly grow for the American market. The Guatemalan harvest is very disappointing this year. As a result, Honduras sent more to the US, where prices reached record peaks in recent weeks, due to the shortages from Guatemala. The independent growers in Costa Rica will also start doing this where volumes from Guatemala aren’t sufficient in the first cycle to stock the American market. Combined with shortages from Brazil on the European market, this has resulted in a good start for Honduran Cantaloupe on the European market.”
First Galias
“This week, we’ll receive the first Galias, and early in February the other varieties will arrive, such as Italian Cantaloupe and a number of new trial varieties such as Piel de Sapo and miniature watermelon. These melon varieties are looking good in the fields. The first arrivals of Cantaloupe under the Mike’s Best and Mike’s Melons brands have a good weight now, with good brix levels between 12 and 16 and they’re nicely netted,” the importer continues.
“It’s expected plenty of Cantaloupe will be available for the Central American season in Europe, but fewer good Galias will be available this year. Only a few growers in Costa Rica are capable of growing good Galia for the European market. Agrolibano is by far the best grower in Honduras who can produce a qualitatively good Galia. We’ll therefore supply all of our end customers and retail programmes with this Galia, which is Rainforest Alliance Certified, and it also has other sustainable and social certifications that are becoming increasingly important to our customers. We expect the first watermelons and yellow melons from Panama mid-February, and we’re hoping the market for these varieties will be better than for the Brazilian season, when these varieties fell behind and were sold for extremely low prices,” Frank concludes.
For more information:
Frank Ocampo
Hagé International
Spoorwegemplacement 1
2991 VT Barendrecht, NL
T +31 180 64 87 65
F.Ocampo@thegreenery.com
www.hage-international.nl