"We want to raise the profile of the citrus range"

Expert in citrus fruit of Spanish origin, the Anecoop cooperative - set up in 1975 by a union of citrus growers in the Valencia region - has taken up an ambitious challenge. The cooperative wants to restore citrus fruits to their former glory, especially the orange, which has become a loss leader for supermarkets. "Oranges have become a battleground product in supermarkets. They are some of the most heavily promoted fruits on the shelves," explains Hervé Tapia, head of the citrus range. "In the interests of our producers, we want to restore value to the citrus family in general, by offering tasty and innovative varieties," adds Camille Broussoux, marketing and communications manager at Anecoop France.

© Anecoop

Specialist cooperatives for each variety
These new varieties add to an already extensive range grown throughout Spain. "The geographical location of our cooperatives spreads from Seville to the north of Valencia, which means that we can cover a wide range of terroirs and varieties and offer consumers the best quality citrus fruit over a wide calendar. Our cooperatives are located in historical production areas for the variety they work with, as demonstrated by the Valencian Citrus PGI label. This is an important guarantee of quality and expertise for us and our clients."

An already wide range of citrus fruits
In the Murcia area, Anecoop grows lemons all 12 months of the year, thanks in particular to the famous Verdelli lemon from a second flowering, thus reducing the carbon footprint of imports. "In the same region, we have a small production of Star Ruby pomelos, the only variety produced in Spain."

"Regarding small citrus fruits, we start the season in September with our early clementine variety, the Clemensoon. We continue with the traditional Oronules and Clemenules varieties. We have been increasingly able to extend our clementine season, with historical varieties such as the Hernandine, and more recent varieties such as the Neufina or Safor."

As for mandarins, Anecoop starts the season at the beginning of November with the Clemenvilla in the Valencia region, which lasted until the end of January this year. The cooperative continues with the Ortanique variety until at least April. "At the same time, in week 01, we started production of Tangold mandarins (whose season will end in March) and Nadorcot mandarins (which we will be selling until at least April). In this late mandarin family, we also have a growing production of Orri mandarins."

"As far as oranges are concerned, our production is divided between the regions of Valencia and Seville. Our table orange varieties are mainly grown in the Valencian region, while our juice orange production is mainly concentrated in Andalusia. A classic range completed by our red oranges with the Sanguinelli, Tarocco Moro, and Tarocco Ippolito varieties."

New varieties to boost the competitiveness of the Spanish-origin
Among the various quality varieties that the cooperative had already selected, such as the Clemensoon and seedless lemons, red citrus fruits are the big news this year, including oranges but also clementines and red mandarins in development. All these new varieties are designed to enhance the range and boost the competitiveness of the Spanish origin. "We are increasingly faced with competition from other producing countries. Oranges from Egypt and Eastern Europe are growing fast. These origins are also having an impact on our sales in other European countries.

Regaining full production potential
Faced with climate change, citrus production in Spain has been severely affected in recent years. Besides diversifying the range to increase its value, Anecoop is determined to regain its full harvest potential. "The drought has done a great deal of damage to volumes, with sales levels for oranges in particular having dropped in the last 4 or 5 years. Campaigns for small citrus fruits are also limited, notably because of increased pest pressure. Rather than planting in order to expand our orchards, we are aiming to regain the volumes we had, despite the challenges and uncertainties posed by climate change.

A good start to the second half of the season
As we enter the second half of the season, this objective seems to be well underway. "We expect to have relatively high volumes of Nadorcott and Tangold. In juice oranges, we also had higher volumes this year, and we are expecting a good second half of the season. Generally speaking, we are better armed in terms of volume than in the last two years."