The sales of Andalusian organic clementines are starting to shape up less than two weeks after the start of the campaign in Huelva. European markets are welcoming the Spanish fruit, but Europe's weather is still not cold enough to boost demand.
"We started our citrus campaign on September 24 with the first organic clementines, Clemenrubi and Orogros, which we export mainly to France and Germany, as well as to other European destinations," stated Victoria Martin, the Marketing Manager at Plus Berries.
According to forecasts, the clementine and mandarin harvest will be similar or even higher than in the previous season, and there will be a drop in orange production in Andalusia. “There will be a production gap in clementines in November and part of December in Spain, as the Valencian production of Clemenules will drop significantly and Andalusia doesn't produce many clementines on those dates as producers try to avoid colliding with the production of the Valencian Community."
Currently, there still are large stocks of conventional mandarins from the southern hemisphere in the markets. However, there aren't many stocks of organic fruit, stated the marketing manager of Plus Berries. “There are lots of organic products from South Africa and some South American countries. However, European distribution chains prefer to sell European products and will focus on it as soon as the production becomes available. These products have a much shorter useful life than conventional products, as they don't undergo any chemical postharvest treatments. Many Andalusian farms are converting to organic, as the European consumers ask for increasingly more sustainable products. Organic citrus will therefore be a differentiating element to face the competition from third countries,” Victoria Martin stated.
This group of companies, which covers the entire range of berries, stone fruits, and broccoli, added organic citrus from Huelva and dried figs to its portfolio last year. “We work with clementines and mandarins from September to March, and with oranges from November to April. This allows us to complement our berry production, expanding our service while providing greater stability to our employees in Huelva,” she stated.
“Prices are appropriate for the dates we are in, but there might be a lack of demand because it's still not too cold in Europe. We expect this to change as temperatures drop in the coming days. At the same time, the fruit from third countries (such as the orange from Egypt -whose exports have increased a lot this year- and South Africa) will start leaving the market. Thus, we expect the orange market will reactivate as of November,” Victoria Martin added.
A year after all international fairs were canceled due to the pandemic, Plus Berries will once again participate at Fruit Attraction, at stand 9E04A in Hall 9. There it will present its new raspberry varieties, as well as its dried figs, and its derived products under the Autentigos brand.
For more information:
Grupo Plus Berries
M. 0034 673109821
T. 0034 959504454
[email protected]
plusberries.com
agromartin.com