"Our goal is to keep the traditional model of agriculture profitable"

The citrus, kaki, and pomegranate season is already underway in the Spanish Levante region. It is a campaign marked by challenges in terms of production and marketing in a context of sector restructuring, as the traditional agricultural model is in need of reform in order to survive and continue to prosper in the face of pressure from increasingly large operational groups.

"We have been harvesting and selling pomegranates since August, and now we are starting with the sale of lemons, satsumas, clementines, and kakis," says José Castelló, manager of San Antonio Fruits.

"Soon we'll also start with oranges and grapefruit. Then, from February to May, we'll do the loquat with Designation of Origin Callosa d'en Sarrià, the town where this company, led by a young team backed by four generations of grower experience, is located," he says.

"The first clementine varieties, which have been bought for more expensive prices this year, are overlapping with the supply of low-priced South African Nadorcott, Tango and Orri mandarins, which is why some Spanish traders prefer to wait until mid-October to start their season," says José Ramón Mechó, a new member of the sales team at Antonio Fruits, who has a long experience in growing and exporting mandarins (especially with leaves) and oranges.

"Because of hailstorms in the main clementine producing areas, the harvest has been reduced and high prices have been paid. Also, production costs continue to rise, so the end consumer will inevitably have to pay higher prices this season," says Mechó.

"San Antonio Fruits was born from the association of growers with high production levels. We have managed to position ourselves well with our brand in the United Kingdom thanks to our specialization in certification, logistics, and bureaucracy. This is how, at the time when Brexit came into effect, we gained quite a lot of market share in this country," says the company's manager, José Castelló. "With José Mechó joining our team, this year we plan to expand our sales in Europe."

Besides its own facilities, where the focus is on traditional loquat cultivation, the company is working on training, adapting, and professionalizing other warehouses in Murcia, Valencia, and Castellon to manage sales of the whole range of citrus fruits, kaki, and pomegranate. "We aim to ensure that the traditional agricultural model remains profitable for the thousands of families who make a living from it, in a sector where around 20% of those involved control 80% of the production," says Casatelló.

For more information:
José Castelló
San Antonio Fruits
Tel.: +34 696 42 08 67
sanantoniofruits.com
[email protected]

José Ramón Mechó
Tel.: +34 669 81 91 49
[email protected]