Stone fruit volumes are gradually increasing in Lérida, where companies such as Conjuntfruit are already harvesting peaches, nectarines, and donut peaches.
"As we predicted a few weeks ago, the season overall is running from 2-3 days up to a week late, depending on the variety," stated Rodrigo Masip. "There will also be slightly less fruit than last year, just as we forecast. Despite this decrease, we'll continue to supply and service our customers, who have always trusted and opted for organic produce, just like we've done each season. Moreover, this season, we'll supply them with superior-quality fruit."
"We've heard that the conventional produce has had certain Brix-degrees issues, which does not usually happen with organic stone fruit because, on average, it usually has 10% more dry matter, which translates into higher Brix levels. In fact, at the beginning of this season, our peaches already had levels of around 10-10.5 degrees, and our clients are delighted with the fruit they are loading."
"We started harvesting donut peaches this week," he stated. "Calibers may be smaller, but it's not a big issue like it would be in peaches or nectarines. The donut peach C calibers, for example, can be sold in basket formats, so there's no problem."
Conjuntfruit's organic cherry season ended quickly in May with very good results because there was no pressure on the market, Rodrigo stated. "We'll start the conventional cherry season in a couple of weeks with Lapins, which will last longer because we have a larger crop."
The production outlook for the season is positive, including in other fruit species, such as pear, which is expected to rebound after the production drop experienced last year due to weather issues. "We expect to start harvesting the Limonera pear at the end of July and the organic Williams at the beginning of August. We expect to harvest 300 tons of organic Limonera pears and around 500 tons of organic Williams."
The start of the harvest in Lérida has been accompanied by a notable fall in prices. "We are worried. We started only two weeks ago, and prices are already falling. The market isn't saturated and, unlike other years, there's no pressure from Murcia. Meanwhile, supermarkets are still charging the same prices to the end customer," Rodrigo said. "Unfortunately, it seems like the fresh fruit market is no longer following supply and demand logic, and is increasingly subject to speculation."
For more information:
Conjuntfruit
Pol. Ind. Torrefarrera, C/ Ctra. Lleida, n.º 1
25123 Torrefarrera (Lleida)
Tel.: +34 973 590 180
Email: [email protected]
https://conjuntfruit.es/