Various factors, with the weather conditions as common denominator, have led to the supply of Spanish stone fruit being limited at the moment on the European market. It will still be necessary to wait for important production regions, such as Extremadura, to start delivering larger volumes.
"There is a shortage on the market, and it will continue for about 2-3 weeks more," says Esther Cerezo, owner of Biosphere, a company specialized in organic production. We will start harvesting next week, and if no adverse weather incidents are recorded (because we already suffered some frosts that hit the early varieties), we expect a good season in terms of quality, and we are confident that prices will go along with it," she says.
"The first species we will harvest will be the nectarines and peaches, and then we will continue with the Paraguayos and plums. This will also be the first year in which we will harvest cherries and platerinas, and new varieties of other fruits will come into production. Our goal is to always go one step further to obtain the best possible quality and pursue greater consumer satisfaction, so that they will go back to the supermarket to buy more after tasting them."
For Biosphera, which this year has implemented the Spring module to its GlobalG.A.P. certification, which guarantees sustainability in irrigation and groundwater use, he stone fruit campaign will run until mid-September, when the last plum varieties will arrive. In early July, watermelons and melons will also be added to its summer product range.
"In Extremadura, both in July and August, we have a very interesting marketing window for our melons and watermelons, exactly in the transition period between other production areas in Spain, so we can take advantage of a reduced supply on the market," says Esther. "Also, we must recall that the demand for both fruits is highly temperature-sensitive, and there's a greater chance that Central Europe will have favorable weather conditions for consumption during those dates, which is also an advantage."
As for the demand, "this season we expect no variations in the consumption of organic fruit compared to previous campaigns in the countries to which we export," says Esther. "We have finished the green asparagus season without noticing any negative impact, so we do not expect any unfavorable circumstances affecting the consumption of organic fruit, stone fruit, watermelon or melon."
It all comes down to looking after the product and meeting the customers' needs, as we do every campaign, and as long as we do everything within our power, we are confident that the summer season will go well, as it already has so far," says Esther. "The market opportunities are there."
For more information:
Biosphera
Autovía A5, Arroyo de San Serván s/n
06850 Arroyo de San Serván, Spain
Tel.: +34 924 342 742
comercial@biosphera.es
https://biosphera.es