"It will depend on the weather, because if rains continue we will start the campaign on 25 May, but if it is sunny, we could begin up to a week earlier than last year," says Francisco Torrente, manager of Cooperativa Agra. In any case, "Prospects for this year's stone fruit campaign are positive, especially for apricots, because our main competitors, France and Italy, will start later than usual and with lower volumes as a result of the weather."
Cooperativa Agra produces and sells all sorts of stone fruit, from peaches nectarines and flat peaches, to apricots (its flagship product) as well as red and black plums. Its entire production has the BRC and GLOBAL GAP quality certifications, and it also produces organic and zero waste fruit.
Up until recently, the firm's most important apricot variety was the Bulida, but a process of change is currently underway, because this variety, according to Francisco Torrente, is mainly intended for processing and hardly covers its production costs.
"Growers are abandoning this variety because the prices offered by the processing industry do not cover production costs," he points out. "Varieties intended for fresh consumption are now being planted, such as red and orange Mirlo, Flodea and Flopria, Estrella, Sublime, Rojo Pasión, etc., and we are also about to introduce later varieties, such as the Serpa. All of them have reddish peel and orange flesh, offer better calibres than the Bulida and suffer no virus diseases or splitting. They also have a longer shelf life and are more resistant to manipulation and transport.
In addition to the varietal changes for apricots, Cooperativa Agra has also progressively changed to new peach varieties, away from yellow peel peaches, because "these ones present the same problems as Bulida apricots; consequently, we are opting for red peel and yellow flesh peach varieties, as well as for nectarines."
Under the Agra Cooperativa brand, the firm ships 80% of its production overseas, to countries such as Italy, Germany, the UK, France, Belgium and the Netherlands, and the remaining 20% to the domestic market.
For more information:
Francisco Torrente
Cooperativa Agra
Polígono industrial Oeste s/n. Calasparra, Murcia. Spain
T: +34 968 72 11 60
M: +34 616435662
[email protected]
www.cooperativa-agra.es
Francisco Torrente
Cooperativa Agra
Polígono industrial Oeste s/n. Calasparra, Murcia. Spain
T: +34 968 72 11 60
M: +34 616435662
[email protected]
www.cooperativa-agra.es
