High production, although not excessive in Italy, good yields also in Spain, low consumption and the economic crisis have caused, and are still causing, problems in the marketing of Angeleno plums.
"Given that there is no crop that stands out for being particularly brilliant," said Maurizio Filippi of Commercio Frutta from Forlì, Italy, "the year for plums has been really bad both in the summer and in this glimpse of autumn. Prices are low and it is difficult to place the product.”
According to Filippi, the lower purchasing power of the pound is causing lower export flows to Great Britain, which was a target market for this plum. "But consumption is also low in Italy. Lately we have been selling in baskets and sometimes we don't even make it to one euro/kg."
One downside of the Angeleno is that it is a plum that is stored, and with today's energy costs and low selling prices, the risk is that it will not even cover expenses.
"Yet this year they are sweet, compact, truly spectacular," added an operator, "but they don't want them. We shipped the biggest ones abroad, 5 pallets to a German supermarket chain, already packaged at 1.05 euros. After a few days they told us the promotion was over and they didn't want more of them."