The bad weather at the beginning of the year, in February, and earlier this month, with low temperatures in the producing areas of Granada, has delayed the asparagus campaign by about two weeks. At the same time, the logistical complications to bring asparagus from Mexico are resulting in a emptier green asparagus market compared to previous years.
"There is very little supply of Spanish green asparagus for this time of the year," says José Ángel Delgado, Sales Director at Los Gallombares. "The development of asparagus is marked by the temperatures, and if these are too low, their growth is delayed. We hope that between the middle and the end of March we will already have consistent volumes to meet all the demand."
In addition to the delay of the Spanish production, there is also a shortage of green asparagus from Mexico. "Peru finished already in December, since it is now summer there and higher temperatures cause the quality of asparagus to decline. At this time, and until we start strong with the Spanish production, we'll have to rely more on Mexico. Direct flights are scarce due to the pandemic. We have to resort to stopover flights that delay product arrivals. Moreover, there are abundant exports of Mexican exotic products that take space away from asparagus," says José Ángel Delgado.
"The demand for green asparagus is very high at the moment and we have to distribute the supply well to be able to serve all our customers, since there is a bit of tension in the market," he says.
Los Gallombares supplies green asparagus all year round. From March to June, the supply comes directly from Granada, while in the other months it imports from Peru and Mexico. "Our main focus is on Granada's asparagus, which we try to give the highest value to," says the sales manager of this cooperative.
The period around Easter is traditionally the one with the highest demand for asparagus. "At the beginning of April, we hope to have enough production to allow us to meet all orders without problems, since just like during Christmas, at Easter the demand usually grows a lot. Also, with the incorporation of Agrolacha farmers we will have another million kilos of green asparagus from Granada this season, so the total will reach 9 million kilos," says José Ángel Delgado.
For more information:
Francisco Delgado
Los Gallombares S.C.A
Ctra. de Priego, s/n
Ventorros de San Jose Loja. Granada, Spain.
T: +34 958315195
esp@losgallombares.es
www.losgallombares.es