Spain's pomegranate season is underway in a slow European market, affected by overlapping with other suppliers and the abundance of medium and small sizes. This situation is not expected to improve until the arrival of later varieties, such as the Mollar and Wonderful.
"We started our pomegranate season with the extra early Smith variety in the first week of August and then moved on to the Acco and Tastem varieties in September," says Francisco Mas, Sales Director for Frutas y Hortalizas Hermanos Mas Serrano.
"Since last week, we have been working with the local Valenciana variety, which is seedless and has sweeter arils. In general, the production of early varieties has increased by between 10 and 15% this season, thanks to the cold weather last winter and the rains in spring," he says.
"However, due to the high temperatures this summer and the scarcity of water, the sizes of the earliest pomegranates have generally been smaller than usual, with calibers 12 and 14 being the most common," says Francisco Mas.
Sales, according to the grower and exporter, have been slow so far. "It has generally been tough to market our products in August. Large pomegranates have indeed reached higher prices, but there hasn't been much demand so far, bearing in mind that there was a greater supply of Southern Hemisphere fruit in August, especially from Peru, and that with the heat, it seems consumption hasn't really taken off."
© Frutas Hermanos Mas Serrano
"Moreover, at the moment, there is also fruit in the European market from suppliers in the Middle East, such as Turkey, which has started two weeks earlier this year, and with prices against which it is difficult to compete," he says.
From mid-October, between weeks 41 and 42, the harvest of PDO Mollar de Elche pomegranates, as well as the Wonderful, will start. "With these varieties, we are expecting a greater supply of larger sizes, and we also hope that, as temperatures drop, pomegranate consumption will increase, since this is a product that is more traditionally associated with the fall and winter months."
© Frutas Hermanos Mas Serrano
The Frutas y Hortalizas Hermanos Mas Serrano team will be attending Fruit Attraction between September 30 and October 1 in Madrid.
For more information:
Francisco Mas
Frutas y Hortalizas Hermanos Mas Serrano, SL.
Partida Daimes, P.l. 1 N.º 96.
03294 Elche, Alicante. Spain.
Tel.: +34 965 45 70 63
[email protected]
www.masserrano.es