The Spanish mandarin season is slowly starting up at Marni Fruit. "For us, the main focus is on the leafy mandarins, which we supply under the Pardo and King's brands. That's what our customers really come to us for," says Erik-Jan Thur. "At the beginning of the season, the market conditions for Spanish mandarins were very bad, but now that the supply of overseas mandarins is running out, people are starting to switch to the Spanish production. We are getting enough mandarins in and I believe sales are not even that bad."
"We are not working as much with Satsumas. Prices range between 8 and 8.50 Euro for the good sizes and between 7 and 7.50 Euro for the smaller ones. These are not great prices, but there is currently a big supply of overseas Nadorcott and they are simply better in terms of taste and color. Prices for the mandarins with leaf currently range between 10.50 and 12 Euro," says Erik-Jan. The Clemenules supply is expected to be considerably smaller, but the importer prefers to wait to make sure. "First seeing, then believing, after all. It has happened often that the volume was said to be smaller and in the end we got enough and could hardly deal with the supply."
According to the importer, the clientele for mandarins with leaf remains mostly ethnic target groups. "The mandarins with leaf are currently not yet fully orange in color, but they are excellent in terms of taste. The ethnic customers understand that, but supermarkets can't get rid of them." This weekend, Marni Fruit will also receive the first Spanish Navelinas. "There are currently still plenty of oranges from South Africa, but also from Argentina and Peru on the market. Their prices range between 11 and 13 Euro and I´d like to start at the same level with the Spanish oranges next week."
Lemon sales are currently dramatic, according to Erik-Jan. "There is still a lot of supply from the old Spanish harvest on the market, but nobody wants those lemons anymore. Spaniards would prefer to start with the new Primofiori harvest, but the prices amount to around 14 Euro, while the overseas ones are still for sale at 7.50-10 Euro. So the market will first have to be cleaned up if we want to make a good start. When the coronavirus pandemic broke loose, everyone thought that consuming citrus in general and lemons in particular was the solution to staying healthy. That drove prices and sales up quite a bit, but now there's no sign of that!"
For more information:
Erik-Jan Thur
Marni Fruit
Gebroken Meeldijk 52
2991 VD Barendrecht. The Netherlands
+31 (0)180 697 996
ej@marnifruit.nl
www.marnifruit.nl