In the last days of January, the fruit and vegetable products of Almeria have been reaching very good prices at the province's auctions, like La Union's, where most vegetables have easily exceeded the Euro per kilo (in the case of striped eggplant, their price on January 26 stood at 2.75 € / kg), following the sharp drop in temperatures recorded this week, which as Esther Garcia explains, is resulting in lower volumes.
"Eggplant is one of the products that suffer the most with temperature changes because the plant immediately stops producing, which is why the product is reaching those prices. Bell peppers are also reaching very high prices right now, especially the yellow and red."
"In that sense, peppers, like cucumbers, have had a good season since the beginning, with prices that have remained stable. Now producers are making room in the plantations to start with the spring melon and watermelon productions, causing further drops in the volume. Bell pepper prices reflect this situation, with 2.26 €/kg being paid for the yellow and 1.54 for the green Italian."
"In fact, at La Union, we expect the first melons and watermelons in weeks 14 and 15, with a production peak around week 18", says Esther. "The watermelon campaign will continue until week 36, and we have already planned it to be able to ensure a stable volume throughout the season."
"As for zucchini, prices are also high, and although there have been some ups and downs during the campaign, they are expected to remain stable during January and February, traditionally two months of high prices for this vegetable."
"There were high expectations for tomatoes at the beginning of the campaign"
The winter cold has finally arrived, and with it, the control of the production, following some unusually high temperatures for the time of year, which served as a catalyst during the fall and gave a boost to the volumes produced in Almeria greenhouses, although not only there.
Temperatures were also favorable for crops in Central Europe during the final stages of their campaigns, so Almeria's exports have been affected by the presence of local supplies in EU markets. In the case of zucchini, the reduction in the volumes exported between September and November reached 26%, while tomatoes recorded an 18% drop, according to data published by the Prices and Markets Observatory of the Government of Andalusia. "With tomatoes, in particular, there were already great prospects at the beginning of the campaign. Everyone expected that with the energy crisis, production in Europe was going to fall and that sales and prices in Almeria were going to skyrocket, and this was indeed the case," said Esther.
However, in general, the current demand is good for all products, and the volume shortages are noticeable, she says. "In fact, at the moment, we could say that there is an insufficient supply to meet the demand."
For more information:
La Unión
Pol.Industrial La Redonda,
n-340, km 414
04700 El Ejido, Almeria, Spain
Tel.: +34 950 58 08 00
comunicacion@launioncorp.com
https://launioncorp.com