Shortage of Spanish watermelons in the market

The anticipated end of the watermelon campaign in Almeria has left a gap in the market prior to the start of the season in Murcia, where the harvest in the open ground has only recently kicked off.

"Almeria finished its campaign with a good product and good market conditions, but with a shortage of volume ahead of schedule," explains Jesús Abenza, commercial director of the Murcian cooperative Alimer.

The cooperative started the watermelon harvest this week in the Guadalentín Valley, and in ten days the campaign will already be in full swing until mid-August, with prospects of harvesting around 44 million kilos of watermelons, 70% of which will be exported.

According to Jesús Abenza, prices are quite right for this time and there is little speculation. "If there was good weather in Europe at this time of shortage, it would become very difficult to meet the demand and prices would skyrocket, as when it's sunny and temperatures reach 30 degrees, sales grow fivefold," he points out. "We believe that it is positive for prices to remain stable, as for growers like us, outrageous price increases are definitely not good, because consumption ends up shrinking and prices consequently plunge."

The watermelon acreage has remained relatively stable compared to other production areas in Spain. "In our cooperative, the production is similar to last year's, although we continue switching to new varieties that improve the product's internal quality and increase the yields, allowing us to remain competitive. We produce black seedless watermelons, mini watermelons (both seedless and with microseeds), yellow watermelons, etc."

After a long period of drought, water scarcity remains a major issue for Murcian growers, who are still waiting for solutions. "The water shortage could cause plenty of difficulties this summer campaign and is a source of great uncertainty for the next winter vegetable season. It is a threat that is always there because no solutions have been found."