UK importers anticipate a tricky lemon supply situation going forward because Spanish volumes are down.
The main Spanish lemon variety Verna is forecast to be 38 per cent lower than last year (186,000 tonnes compared to 300,000 tonnes), due to alternate bearing and adverse weather conditions, distributors reveal.
The Primofiori season (October to March) is also predicted to be 17 per cent down, which in real terms is said to be much more severe than figures initially indicated.
The Spanish lemon shortfall is currently resulting in higher-than-average prices paid to growers, say UK distributors. And, although lemons are still in plentiful supply at UK retail level, some distributors anticipate a potential shortage in the new year.
“It’s a very challenging season coming,” Matt Warren, AMT Fruit Ltd, part of the Munoz group in Spain, told Fruitnet. “Southern Hemisphere lemons have been short for a couple of years. And it now looks like lemons will be difficult coming out of Spain, especially in spring.”
Sisco Tello, commercial director Fesa, part of Spain’s Anecoop group said that the high price of lemons is currently regulating demand across Europe.
“[In the UK] some of the price differential is being absorbed by exporters, some by importers, and to an extent by retailers and maybe consumers,” he said, “but to date nobody has seen a shortage of lemons on the supermarket shelves, and that will still be the case in the spring. I hope!”
UK demand for lemons typically spikes two weeks before Christmas, and again in the new year, as consumers stock up on the fruit for festive cooking and use in drinks. Pancake day in February sees another surge in UK sales.
