Costa Rican company Pafru. S.A. started shipping Galia, Cantaloupe, watermelons, mini-watermelons, and yellow honeydew melons in early January. "Due to the rainy season in Brazil, we expected Brazilian melons' volumes and quality to decline rapidly," says Rolf Weber of Global Producers, justifying the early start.
Pafru S.A.'s melon cultivation area grew by 10% to 1,250 hectares, accounting for approximately 1,500 containers of melon exports. Half of that expansion is attributed to harvesting that began two weeks earlier, and the other half to the increased cultivation of the mini-watermelon varieties Lynx, Mielhart, and the Supermini's 1969.
"In January and February, all melon varieties from Costa Rica were of top quality and sold at very high prices. Galia, Cantaloupe, and mini-watermelon prices should stabilize in the coming weeks, as incoming quantities are manageable and Easter falls very early, in sales week 13."
"Watermelon and yellow melon prices will undoubtedly correct as these volumes are set to increase. Also, the ships from Central and South America were delayed by a week," explains Rolf, "and are now arriving on the market simultaneously. From mid-March to April, import volumes, to a lesser extent, and the weather, hot or not, will mainly determine watermelon prices."
"My conclusion is there's no chance of year-round Brazilian melon production and imports, volume and quality-wise. The weather simply makes that impossible. The Lost World with 52 weeks of sunshine doesn't exist in Brazil either," Rolf concludes.
For more information:
Rolf Weber
Global Producers
136 B Venrayseweg
5928 RH, Venlo, The Netherlands
Tel: +31 (0) 774 658 100
Rolf@global-producers.nl
www.global-producers.nl