Fashion watermelon producers in Spain are confident of having one of their best-ever campaigns this year, with growers predicting major increases in both production and turnover, as the product become ever more established in European supermarkets.
Spanish Fashion watermelon grower organisation Asociación Grupo Fashion (AGF) is reportedly confident of producing 70,000 tonnes of the black-skinned, seedless variety this year, compared with 65,000 tonnes in 2009.
According to the AGF, the principal reasons for the forecast rise in production have been the integration into the association of several new companies, as well as an increase in the amount of land dedicated to Fashion production, reported regional daily El Almería.
In line with the increase to production, the group also anticipates that its turnover will reach €42m for 2010 compared with €39m last year, which it said was in keeping with its philosophy of “controlled growth”.
The AGF told the publication that such controls were necessary to ensure that new integrated companies and cultivation met with its production standards, which it said had been designed to ensure a consistent level of product quality.
As well as the domestic Spanish market, the association, which is comprised of 25 companies, currently exports Fashion watermelons to retailers in major European markets, such as Germany, France and the Scandinavian countries.
