"EU: "Persimmons more popular every year"

Due to weather conditions the Spanish persimmon season at Hillfresh started a little later than normal. "Warm weather at the beginning of the season made the fruit colour at a slower rate than normal. In the meantime the nights are a little colder, which is good for the colouring of the persimmon. Also it is raining at the moment causing the fruit to grow bigger," Kees van den Heuvel explains.

Hillfresh has with persimmon producer Agricola Antoluz S.L., the largest private grower of persimmons in Spain, an exclusive arrangement in respect of the marketing of persimmons in Europe. Most of the Spanish persimmon are grown in Valencia, but the persimmon of Agricola Antoluz come from the province of Huelva.

All persimmons are of the variety Rojo briljante. "There are not many small sizes this year. We mainly offer the middle and large varieties," Kees says.

"This year we double the volume. We expect to go from 3 million kg. to 6 million kg. During the coming years still more young trees will come into production. We expect a production of 16 million kg. within a number of years," the importer says. He expects that there certainly will be a market for that. "Persimmons increase in popularity every year, causing the demand to increase strongly."

For more information:
Kees van den Heuvel
Hillfresh
Tel: 0031 180-898070
kees@hillfresh.eu
www.hillfresh.eu