The first green asparagus began to sprout in small quantities as early as January in Granada, which is unusually early and a consequence of the spring temperatures at the start of winter. The cold spell there's been since mid-January has paralyzed plant growth and will delay the harvest until early March. In the meantime, Spanish importers are moving from Peru to Mexico.
“Harvesting the asparagus in January wasn't very normal, but up until mid-month we had average night temperatures of 5-6 degrees and highs of 20-22 degrees during the day. Now, night temperatures have decreased up to -5 degrees which, in addition to freezing the premature crops, has stopped the growth of asparagus,” stated Francisco Delgado, manager of the Los Gallombares cooperative.
“If the conditions in Granada improve to their usual state in the coming weeks, we expect to start harvesting asparagus in early March. This year we have increased our area by 15% -about 300 hectares-, so we could have 20% more production,” Francisco Delgado stated. “This makes us the largest producer of green asparagus in Europe and the second largest producer in the world.”
This week, the cooperative is ending the last batches of green asparagus from Peru and starting the first shipments from Mexico. “Peru is entering mid-summer and the quality of the product is starting to drop, so we prefer to turn to Mexican asparagus until the Spanish production is consistent in March,” the manager of Los Gallombares stated. “Protests and lockdowns in Peru had some effect on shipments. As a result, 25 pallets could not be loaded at airports. However, this only happened on certain specific days,” he added.
According to Francisco Delgado, the demand for green asparagus in central and northern Europe is calm. Meanwhile, demand remains high in Spain and Portugal.
The cooperative has invested approximately 8 million euro in the extension and automation of its facilities by building a new 10,000 square-meter warehouse with 11 lines that have the capacity to pack up to 120,000 kilos in 8 hours.
Los Gallombares will participate in Fruit Logistica from February 8 to 10, in Berlin. You can visit them in Hall 10, stand A-06.
For more information:
Francisco Delgado
Los Gallombares S.C.A
Ctra. de Priego, s/n
Ventorros de San José Loja. Granada, España.
T: +34 958315195
esp@losgallombares.es
www.losgallombares.es