The Spanish citrus campaign has already reached the second half of the season. Starting this week, the first Navel Late blond oranges of the season are already arriving in stores. At the same time, blood oranges from Spain are increasingly finding their way to German retailers, says Enrique Pedros, wholesaler at the Nuremberg wholesale market.
Clementines: Orri on the march
Spain continues to dominate the range of both oranges and clementines, says Pedros. "For some weeks now, we have been offering Moroccan Nadorcott as well as Israeli Orri to complement the Spanish Clemenules. The latter fruit has been going strong for several years, moving more volume each year, although current demand is rather manageable."
Enrique Pedros during FreshPlaza's 2018 wholesale market visit.
Oranges: Trend toward premium goods
The Nuremberg-based company mainly supplies specialist retailers, weekly market stockers and regional farm stores. These segments in particular experienced a strong boom during Corona. "Because of the increased risk of contagion in conventional food retailing, people prefer to shop outdoors or in smaller stores. I would also hope that this trend will continue after the pandemic. Regardless of Corona, we're seeing a strong trend within our customer base toward premium goods because people want to differentiate themselves from discounters."
In the wake of this, fancy oranges, such as Cara Cara, Tarocco, and exquisite chocolate oranges, are finding better and better favor with wholesalers. "Italian blood oranges of the Moro and Tarocco varieties are known to trade mostly in January and February. The Spanish have also recognized the potential of blood oranges for themselves, which is why we have larger quantities of Spanish Sanguinelli available each year," the wholesaler, who offers Spanish blood oranges between January and April, explains.
Steady lemon market, declining demand for grapefruits
Parallel to the seasonal business with Spanish clementines and oranges, lemons from the Iberian Peninsula are continuously traded. "The supply of Spanish lemons is sufficient to meet demand, which is why we are seeing a steady sell-off. Last year, we only had to briefly resort to batches from South Africa and Uruguay in the summer, otherwise we were able to offer Spanish produce all year round."
Rounding out the citrus selection are Spanish grapefruits. Pedros says: "White grapefruits have hardly been in demand for several years, and the same applies to the light-rosé Ruby Red variety. The red Star Ruby has also tended to find less favor with consumers in recent years, especially as other citrus fruits have become more prominent and the range has expanded abruptly."
For more information:
Enrique Pedros
Enrique Pedros GmbH
Leyher Str. 107
Großmarkt Nürnberg Stand 41- 44
Tel. 0911/3148 40 u. 931995-0
Fax 313716
[email protected]
www.fruechte-pedros.de
