Grapefruit sales have remained stagnant since mid-November. In contrast, demand for lemon has reactivated as the Christmas holidays approach.
"At the beginning of October the markets had much fewer fruit from South Africa and there was still no offer from Turkey and Israel, which left the Spanish grapefruit a window of about three weeks in which sales were lively," stated Maria Dolores Pelegrin, a partner of Apemar.
"Sales began to decline in mid-November and were especially difficult in Eastern European countries due to the entry of significant volumes of grapefruit from Turkey, with whom it is very difficult to compete in prices. Now sales are flat and it's difficult to bring large volumes to the market as prices have increased due to the lower supply and the increase in production costs," she added.
According to the sales manager of this Murcian company, grapefruit production is estimated to be about 25% lower than last year. Since there are fewer fruits in the trees, grapefruits are larger than usual and there is an abundance of calibers 2 and 3. "Not all markets want large sizes. Italy and Spain, for example, prefer medium-sized grapefruits. We hope that sales will reactivate well in January," Maria Dolores Pelegrin stated.
Grapefruit and lemon are the citrus fruits that have had the biggest increase in surface area this year, in proportion, compared to last year. "Producers are planting a lot of grapefruit, especially organic grapefruit, which I find curious as it has such a small market," she stated.
Meanwhile, lemon demand has been rising again since the beginning of December. “The month of November has been quite calm compared to last year. It seems that people usually spend more money on other products in the weeks that Black Friday is celebrated. Now we see a pick-up in sales for the Christmas campaign, especially from France in Europe. We are also shipping more containers to Canada.”
For more information:
María Dolores Pelegrín
FRUTAS APEMAR, S.L.
M: +34 609656551
T: +34 968 379 490
[email protected]
www.apemar.com