"We believe that, with the varieties available in the second part of the season and with the existing volumes in Spain, we can cover the whole period from December to June," said Cipriano Castelló, Corporate Purchasing Director MMPP at The Natural Fruit Company. However, the scenario is very different in the first part of the season, especially between November and December, when citrus consumption is higher than in the rest of the year."
The Natural Fruit Company brings together the experience and the vision of the future of family companies with a consolidated presence in the large-scale distribution of citrus, melon and watermelon at a global level. The group, based in Spain, is a leader in the citrus market in Europe. It manages close to 900 hectares of plantations, mainly devoted to organic production, located throughout Spain, and has a total processing capacity of close to 300,000 tons of packaged fruit per year.
"The citrus market is expected to record long-term growth, with our goal being that the demand is maintained throughout the year. To this end, we have opted for the new protected variety US Early Pride, adding it to the portfolio of varieties we already work with. With this variety, we aim to mitigate the deseasonalization in this period, as it is harvested from October 20 to December 15," said Cipriano.
It is the first early hybrid of the season, and the fruit can be kept on the tree in optimal conditions for more than 45 days, from October 20 to mid-December. "In addition to its aesthetic qualities in terms of color and shape, it is a very attractive variety for the fruit with leaf market. It is allowing us to offer consumers a much more natural, tree-ripened and higher quality product delivering maximum freshness," said Cipriano.
"When the markets have access to varieties with suitable qualities, mandarin consumption remains high, but when the organoleptic or agronomic qualities are not up to par, consumption falls until the arrival of second season varieties," he says.
"Therefore, introducing suitable varieties in the early part of the season, such as the US Early Pride variety, makes it possible not only to fulfill our personal vision of a "Full Citrus Basket" all year round, but also to meet the need for homogeneous, problem-free varieties with an attractive color and adequate sizes on the shelves. Moreover, the percentage of discards in storage is kept to a minimum, which is also very important," says Cipriano.
"Our farms are BeeFriendly and have WWF certificates. Our operations generate 0% food waste, which fits with the characteristics of this new variety. There is no need to scare the bees away or to use nets for isolation to avoid seeds. This facilitates pollination and reduces the need for treatments for the fruit setting. Also worth noting is that it is resistant to Alternaria," explains the group's purchasing director.
"These qualities make it attractive not only for conventional production, but also for organic production," says Vicente Estevan, one of the owners of the entity that exclusively manages the industrial property rights over the variety in the European Union, Morocco, Chile, Peru and Turkey (Euro Varieties Agronomic Management, S.L).
"Many professionals in the sector have quickly understood the importance of this new mandarin variety and the need to produce during the first season, so in just one year the first hectares have already been licensed, and further expansion is expected during 2023, sticking to the licensee's deferred payment policy, which helps the producers get on their feet until the plants are productive," says Vicente.
"It is already possible to book the purchase of plants through AVASA and its member nurseries, which are the only nurseries authorized to multiply and sell the plant material. Looking at the figures we have to date, the plant stock for this spring has exceeded our expectations and we can look forward to a considerable growth this year and the next, always keeping in mind that the limit for Spain and Portugal has been set at 2000 hectares," explains Vicente Estevan.
For more information:
Vicente Estevan
Commercial Director
Euro Varieties Agronomic Management, S.L
T: +34 603 75 34 52.
[email protected]
www.usearlypride.es
Cipriano Castelló Naya
Corporate Purchasing Director MMPP
The Natural Fruit Company (TNFC)
T: + 34 962 89 54 43
[email protected]
www.thenaturalfruit.com