The Spanish orange and mandarin campaign is underway with fierce competition from third countries in this latter half of the season, especially from Egypt and Turkey.
“The surge of Egyptian citrus in Europe and Canada entails a significant challenge,” says Carlos Echeveste, from Grupo Frutaria, which produces oranges and mandarins in Seville and Huelva.
“The logistical issues caused by the conflict in the Red Sea are resulting in a large share of the fruit intended for destinations like Dubai, Saudi Arabia, China, or Malaysia, among others, to end up in European and Canadian markets, which are our main export destinations,” he says.
According to Carlos Echeveste, "we are talking about large volumes of fruit at prices against which it is impossible to compete. In the case of Canada, Moroccan mandarins and Egyptian oranges have already gained a lot of ground on the Spanish production. Meanwhile, the price in the processing industry remains high.”
Stone fruit blossom happening between two weeks and a month early
Regarding the stone fruit campaign, one of Frutaria's key activities, “it's still too early to make forecasts,” says Carlos Echeveste, “although, for now, we can say that the blossom appears to be happening between two weeks and a month early, depending on the area and variety, due to some unusually high temperatures this winter.”
“We remain alert ahead of the new stone fruit campaign, as many things could still happen before the harvests begin. It’s worth recalling that over the last 4 campaigns, we have seen various adverse weather phenomena in Europe, including frosts, hail, floods, or drought, which have severely reduced the production in different areas each year, be it Spain, France, Italy...”, he says.
“The weather plays an increasingly decisive role in fruit campaigns, as it can practically wipe out an entire production in a totally unpredictable manner. It seems that, in the coming years, there will be a greater focus on availability, rather than on prices,” says Carlos Echeveste.
Frutaria has once again taken part as an exhibitor at the Fruit Logistica fair in Berlin, where its brand Ondine, from its French subsidiary ASF Edition, which is used for the marketing of flat fruit, including Paraguayo peaches and nectarines, attracted a lot of interest.
“We are very pleased with the fair's results, although it's undeniable that Fruit Attraction continues to position itself in Europe, both thanks to its location, in Madrid, and to the dates on which it is held,” said Echeveste. In this latest edition of Fruit Logistica, we got more inquiries from distribution chains about our Ondine flat nectarines and Paraguayo peaches, given the fruit's good performance in the past 2023 campaign and the fact that we will have larger volumes this year, which means more weeks of supply with the same flavor.”
“We remain committed to continuous varietal renewal, especially within our low chill programs for early production areas in Seville, Huelva, Badajoz, and Murcia. We are capable of offering varieties with a distinct flavor and Brix from May to September,” says Carlos Echeveste.
For more information:
Carlos Echeveste
Frutaria
T: +34 976 469 459
M: +34 606 69 87 32
cecheveste@frutaria.com
frutaria.com
ondine-fruit.com