In recent years, rising production costs and lower profit margins have led to a reduction in the number of Spanish nurseries devoted to the production of stone fruit plants for professional growers, and stone fruit crops are among those generating the highest volumes of fruit and business in the horticultural sector.
© VIVEROS HERNANDORENA, S.L.
"Production costs have almost doubled in the last 10 years, a period in which we have gone through a pandemic and dealt with the consequences of wars such as those in Ukraine and now Iran," says Rosa Hernandorena, Sales Director of Viveros Hernandorena. "In all this time, we have hardly raised the price of the plants and have taken on the constant increases ourselves, as growers have shown to be unwilling to pay a little more for the plants."
© VIVEROS HERNANDORENA, S.L.
Rosa Hernandorena with Thomas Chevaillier, technical director of the breeding company PSB Producción Vegetal, showing their new range of platerina varieties.
"Over the years it has become very difficult to make plant production profitable, which adds to other challenges, such as the lack of generational replacement or greater difficulties in plant health-related bureaucratic procedures. We are now seeing a reduction in the number of nurseries devoted to producing stone fruit plants and other fruit trees," says Rosa Hernandorena.
This, according to the fruit plant specialist, has led to a concentration of demand. "It may seem that the demand for plants has increased, but there are fewer of us involved," she says. Thus, Viveros Hernandorena has managed to reach and even exceed the target of selling 200,000 stone fruit plants and has managed to increase sales prices by between 10 and 15%. "This is the only way to ensure that we can continue producing plants in the future," she says.
© VIVEROS HERNANDORENA, S.L.
Viveros Hernandorena sells most of its stone fruit plants to producers in Spain, Portugal, Italy and France, with a growing consolidation of the bare root format, which already represents more than 70% of its production.
Rosa Hernandorena says that the growing and marketing sector has also undergone a major restructuring process in recent years: "In the stone fruit business, the only producers with chances to survive in the future are the most professionalized growers, with large volumes and vertical integration of all the processes, from production to harvesting, packaging and logistics, as well as a portfolio of clients with pre-established programs. Such companies remain committed to working with consolidated varieties, but they are the only ones that can afford to take chances trying out new varieties."
For more information:
Viveros Hernandorena
Tel.: +34 96 253 26 81
[email protected]
www.hernandorena.com
