"We had high expectations because it seemed that this was going to be a normal year, and that we were going to have a good amount of fruit and good prices, but Almeria has already finished, and in Murcia we are dealing with significant shortages due to the weather conditions, which took a toll on the production in June,” says Borja Herrera, of Difrusol.
“In fact, we have practically no access to any Galia or Cantaloupe melons; only to very small amounts of yellow and Piel de Sapo melons, and mostly small calibers. At Difrusol we are specialized in domestic production; we do not import melons or watermelons, but it seems that there are also not many volumes from other origins available at the moment."
Fortunately, "although in Almería we have obtained fewer kilos than in other years, we are very happy with the quality and prices," says Borja.
Regarding watermelon, "we also started with very high expectations, high prices and plenty of demand for the fruit, but the switch from Almería to other origins, such as Murcia or Seville, has also been greatly affected by the weather conditions. In Seville, there were some quality issues with the last batches we marketed through Almeria producers, in addition to the fact that there were shortages in the province.”
"As for watermelons, small sizes are generally better accepted, but not in all destinations," says Borja. "Also, given the almost zero availability, customers have to pay very high prices that are difficult to accept."
"In our case, we are selling watermelons of sizes 5 to 7 for between 1.10 and 1.30 €/kg, which are already high, and to this you must add the costs of transport, storage and handling. However, in the case of melons we can't even talk about a price problem. We have spent about 10 days already without significant quantities, because there is simply no supply.”
“We can only hope that the situation in Murcia will pick up in the coming days, although all our hopes are now pinned on the melon and watermelon campaign in Castile-La Mancha. It is still early to assess the situation there, but since it is a later campaign, it seems that the problems caused by the rains in the setting or at a phytosanitary level have not occurred there."
The La Mancha campaign will kick off in the last weeks of July, "so, until then, this month is going to be very tough when it comes to the supply of melons and watermelons. We are aware that we are experiencing very difficult circumstances and it is important to communicate this faithfully to our customers, with whom we remain in contact, so that they can understand the situation.”
For more information:
Difrusol
Avda De España n.º 4. Planta 1-7
30562 Ceutí, Murcia, Spain
Tel.: +34 968 694 250
info@difrusol.com
www.difrusol.com