Leading Murcia-based vegetable cooperative San Cayetano is hopeful of marketing some 18,000 tonnes of peppers this season, although the group has warned that a delay to the start of the season and the economic downturn could affect the success of the campaign.
In a statement, San Cayetano’s managing director, José García Ruiz said that despite “excellent quality” being achieved in the group’s pepper production, a delay to the start of the campaign and the global economic situation meant returns would not be as high as expected.
Aside from this, Mr García said that the cooperative had recorded a “quite positive” winter vegetable campaign, with volumes of spinach, cauliflower, fennel and straight endive reaching 1,650 tonnes.
“These varieties are more difficult to produce than other vegetables, but the good results obtained during this campaign has confirmed the excellent quality of San Cayetano’s production,” he said.
For the coming summer melon campaign, Mr García said that the cooperative expected to market around 1,000 tonnes of Galia melons.
San Cayetano, which is a member of export consortium Grupo Hortiberia, comprises of 136 growers who together produce an average of 70,000 tonnes of fruit and vegetables – worth some €37m – over more than 2,100ha every year.
