This year's greenhouse pepper campaign in Murcia started one month ahead of schedule due to the mild winter and small variations in temperature between day and night in spring, which has resulted in a good quality produce and high volumes, but also to an overlap with Almeria's season.
"The advance is such that we are currently handling the volumes that would normally correspond to the month of July," says the manager of the Murcian company Soltir, Ángel García Izquierdo. "The campaign overlaps with Almeria, which is still has substantial volumes available, led to oversupply, which within an economically depressed market such as Spain's, resulted in sharp price drops at the beginning of the campaign, especially for Lamuyo peppers."
Now the situation is different after a dramatic decline in Lamuyo harvest volumes. "Almeria has already finished and we are alone in the domestic market," continues García Izquierdo. "Therefore, prices have rebounded and are above 1.00 €/kg at origin and about 1.70 €/kg at destination. It is a perfectly reasonable price to cover the production costs."
Spain mainly consumes Lamuyo peppers over other varieties because of its large size, although Soltir also exports it to Italy and Portugal, which also have their own production. "This year the harvest has also arrived very early in Italy, resulting in a lot of kilos being supplied; this has also not been very positive for our sales there," points out García Izquierdo.
Bell peppers gaining ground on Lamuyo
Based in San Cayetano, Murcia, in summer Soltir devotes 80% of its activity to the production and sale of peppers. They are the largest Lamuyo producers of Campo de Cartagena in all three colours (green, red and yellow). "70% of our peppers are Lamuyo, while 30% are red, green and yellow bell peppers, which continue gaining ground on the former at a rate of 8% per year."
"Bell peppers are easier to sell in the export markets, where we have a favourable competitive position over the Netherlands, as they have higher production costs and are also the ones setting the sale price of peppers in Europe. It is certainly a more profitable product for us. Additionally, we continue making progress year after year in terms of quality and safety and we are at a very similar level as Dutch peppers," he affirms.
"Right now, Murcia's bell peppers cost around 1.30-1.40 €/kg and we ship them mainly to Germany, France, Belgium and the Netherlands, but also to markets such as Poland, where marketing is more complicated because customers demand a quality that does not correspond with the prices they are willing to pay. The Netherlands has a greater logistical advantage in this market."
According to the Soltir manager, last year's pepper campaign was unbeatable in every way; in terms of production, quality and prices. Although this year will not be as good, for now we can say that it is acceptable. "We'll see how plants react given the forecast of high temperatures this summer."
The company owns 58,000 square metres, where they cultivate pepper and melon in summer and broccoli and artichoke in winter, using auctions as its main sales channel, where the pre-calibrated product is sold to re-exporting firms. Furthermore, they also conduct sales in platforms for the supply of supermarket chains, which accounts for 30% of its total turnover. The company uses integrated organic control methods and is certified by GlobalGAP and by ISO 14001 9001 at its warehouses.
For more information:
Ángel García Izquierdo
Soltir OPFH 876
Autovía San Javier - Murcia Km. 22
30592 San Cayetano. Murcia, Spain
T: +34 968 334 800
[email protected]
www.soltir.com
