The Spanish citrus season is currently getting off to a quiet start. "The next few weeks will be decisive, but the colouring is still an issue. It largely determines when fruit can enter the market. Many shippers are not yet exporting because of the colour," says Ronnie Moorman of Willem Dijk AGF in Enschede. "But there is a lot of demand. Overseas citrus is commanding top prices. For juicing oranges, imports from overseas are still very important, but the quality of overseas hand oranges is really starting to decline now, so demand for Spanish Navelinas is clearly picking up."
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"This season we can really stand out with brands like Filosofo, Elefant, and Style, all top brands coming directly from Spain," says Ronnie. "Filosofo has already started loading, and Willem Dijk expects the first Navelinas, Clemenules, Oronules, and Satsumas to arrive in Enschede on Friday."
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Prices, ex-Spain, excluding transport, for the top orange brands are around 1.30 euros per kilo, and for mandarins, around 1.10 euros, or 90 cents for the lesser brands. For the best lemons, prices are around 1.50 euros, while Spanish grapefruit is priced at about 1.30 euros per kilo.
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Team Willem Dijk AGF at the Foodspecialties trade fair
Elefant is likely to launch next week. "At the Foodspecialties trade fair in Houten, we had an enormous number of requests from new customers for this brand. We even had a batch of small elephants made to promote it. Elefant has expanded its plantings this year, so we won't be short of supply," says Ronnie. "For the Aguado family, colour is everything, but I'm hopeful the oranges will arrive soon. In the 12 years we've worked with this citrus specialist, the quality at the start has never been poor, so I'm expecting a strong start again this year."
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Spanish persimmons are marketed by Willem Dijk under the Style brand. "The quality is good, but persimmons are still not very popular, and I think prices are disappointing. The market is under heavy pressure, including from lower-quality fruit. Hardly any packaged product is being sent out because the current prices, between 1.40 and 1.80 euros, are still not attractive," Ronnie observes.
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Choco oranges are also back in the assortment this year. "Last year, Aguado mentioned that Choco oranges are hardly profitable for growers, as the number of suppliers keeps increasing. So it's not a key product, but it allows us to offer customers a complete range. Still, we expect more from Cara Cara than from Choco oranges!"
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For more information:
Willem Dijk AGF BV
Ronnie Moorman
+31 (0) 6-53374274
[email protected]
www.willemdijk.nl
