There must be a strange - and highly unwelcome - sense of déjà vu among stonefruit growers in Spain at the moment. Last summer, they found themselves at the mercy of Mother Nature, with cold temperatures and heavy rainfall in southern regions pushing down volumes and impacting negatively on fruit quality.
This year, the campaign kicked off in promising style. Early sunshine in Spain saw supplies come on stream around 10 days earlier than usual, putting a premature end to good-quality peach supplies from Egypt.
However, subsequent wet and windy weather conditions mean the season could pan out very differently, with the regions of Murcia, Sevilla and Lérida particularly affected. Valencia has not been as badly hit, according to insiders.
As FPJ went to press, the short-term weather forecast was not looking any better, and the long-term outlook remained unclear.
“Spain has been a real problem,” says one importer. “Fruit was damaged by wind and rain towards the end of May, and Defra is really hot at the moment on the quality of what is coming in. A lot of the skin is scarred and the fruit is full of water, which means it has a really poor shelf life - just four to five days. In most cases, fruit is not ripening, just rotting. As soon as one spot appears on the skin, it is going off.”
Others are more optimistic about the quality of Spanish fruit to date, pegging it as “okay”, but admit availability has been slow.
“Touch wood, we have been lucky to now and there have been no real quality issues on the Spanish fruit we have sold,” says one insider. “However, availability has been restricted, fruit does not have the brix level we are after and it isn’t eating like it should.”
Spanish cherries are also suffering from low brix levels. “They are sharp and horrible to eat, and we have really had to cut back on volumes,” says one insider.
France has endured similarly dire weather conditions, marking a difficult time for the apricot industry. Early frosts in March and April, especially in the regions of Bouches du Rhône and Vaucluse, have severely damaged the crop. Total apricot volumes will fall by 29 per cent on last year, to 89,052 tonnes. The fruit has been scarred with brown marks, rendering the product visually not up to scratch.
Meanwhile, peach and nectarine volumes are expected to fall by 19 per cent, to 287,483t - also due to frosts, but also economic pressures.
The French cherry crop, conversely, is expected to increase by 20-30 per cent on last year, with a total volume of 45,000t - back up to normal average levels.
The Italian season is also now kicking off. Some supplies of southern Italian fruit, mainly being packed in the north of Italy, have already made their way over to UK shores. “The southern stuff is good quality, although there has been rain in that region,” says one insider. “Volumes are about what we would expect for the time of year.”
So with Europe suffering at the hands of the weather for the second summer running, product from Israel and California is enjoying strong demand in the UK. Israelis are sending good-quality apricots and plums to the market, according to insiders, and availability is decent. “They are having a better spring than they did last year,” admits one importer.
Steve Hopkins, sales manager at Israeli specialist Agrexco UK, tells FPJ: “Back in March, I said that we were in a stage of cautious optimism as to how the season would unfold. We’d had the frost that was ideal for the chilling hours required, but we had no control of the ensuing weather. I am delighted to say that the eating quality of our stonefruit has exceeded expectations, even ours.
“We actually started bringing in our stonefruit a week or two earlier this year. Plum-wise, we are currently working Vania, for which we have had fantastic feedback, so much so that demand outstrips supply. I cannot stress enough how good the quality is - in the six years I have worked on stonefruit at Agrexco, I have never seen fruit with such consistently high sugar levels.
“Equally with apricots - we are working Hula Blush, again with those same high sugar levels. This eating quality is shared with all varieties, including our premium varieties developed by Seffi Ben-Dor, such as Pitta Peach - a white flesh, flat peach which we will be starting next week - Rosewater - a white flesh nectarine - and Revital - another new variety nectarine with an intense mango flavour.
“On our speciality lines, Aromacots are coming in now with plum varieties, followed by our yellow plums, including the Lamoon family, in a few weeks’ time. The arrival of Plumegranate plums is now also imminent,” added Hopkins.
California is enjoying a similarly good season. An insider comments: “Overall, the feel in California is positive, and fruit is in the UK at good sizes. California stonefruit is primarily heading for premium retail lines. Importers have commented that the product is a very high standard, with high sugar levels. Eating quality is very good, and fruit has good colour.”
However, several localised areas within the US production area were hit with unexpected rain last week, with some damage reported on Zee Fire nectarines. Temperatures will be in the upper 80oFs at the beginning of the week, and will push into the 90oFs by mid-week.
Crimson Lady will be the major yellow peach variety from California this period. Spring Flame 20 should be finished early, as it hit its estimate late last week. Spring Flame 21, another yellow peach, will be the second variety this period. Several other yellow peaches are also available.
A few Zee Fire nectarines will continue to be packed in the next week. This variety will be short of estimate by 20 per cent, some of this due to damage from the recent rain. Red Roy will be the major variety this period.
The California plum harvest is also now underway. Red Beaut should be the major variety the first few days of the week. Flavorosa and Earliqueen will be in a tight race to see which one will take the lead by mid-week.
Sales-wise, the last few weeks have been excellent due to an improvement in the UK weather, but all that has now changed with the rainy conditions of the last fortnight. “All of a sudden it went very quiet, because of all the rain we had,” says one importer.
The viability of sending to the UK is also being called into question, particularly for many European growers. “There are huge contracts to Russia now from European stonefruit producers, and the Italians, for example, may be sending less than usual to traditional markets such as the UK, Ireland and Germany as a result,” says one trader. “Our growers are no longer just reliant on the traditional markets, and are always under pressure from the UK to drop prices and do offers. But the money just isn’t there to do that anymore. It will be an interesting season.”
PICOTA PICKING UP UK FOLLOWING
we are looking forward to a successful Picota cherry season, writes the head of the Regulatory Board of the Denomination of Origin Cereza del Jerte. Since the board was established in 1996, we have run colourful promotional campaigns for Picota cherries from the Jerte Valley in the major markets for this fruit, including the UK.
Last year, sales of cherries and all stonefruit suffered as a result of the poor summer weather. There was wet weather in Spain, too, which affected Spanish stemmed cherries and, while Jerte Valley Picota cherries - which arrive on the market later - were good quality, the length of our export season was reduced to around three weeks.
This year, thanks to the favourable weather conditions in the Jerte Valley before, during and after blossoming, we expect high production volumes and good quality for Picota cherries. Although the rain during the last month affected other early and mid-season stemmed cherry varieties, Picota were still green or at the beginning of their development at that time, and so have been largely unaffected. The Jerte Valley enjoyed very good weather after blossoming, which helped the fruit set well; the trees are now laden with fruit, so we should see good volumes.
Last year was also affected by rain leading into the harvest period for Picota, but we are expecting sunshine for this season. This should favour a longer season of up to seven weeks. We expect that the first fruit will be in UK retailers by June 14, and will be on supermarket shelves until the end of July.
With near year-round availability of fresh cherries in the supermarkets, and many shoppers unaware of the range of varieties and sources of origin, there is a great opportunity to distinguish a niche cherry such as the Picota in the minds of consumers. Accordingly, our promotional efforts have concentrated on the uniqueness of Picota cherries: specifically mentioning their long, gradual ripening process, deep flavour, provenance in Jerte Valley, and the fact you can recognise them because they are the only cherries without a stalk.
Following several successful years promoting Picota through Foods from Spain on a stand-alone basis, the association joined the integrated campaign for Spanish fresh produce when it launched four years ago. This has combined a range of in-store advertising and on-pack promotions with advertising and public relations in the consumer press.
The ongoing promotion of this fruit is working: in the press, including the food and women’s press, and retailers’ in-house magazines, we are witnessing a greater awareness of the variety. In stores, we know there are shoppers who will actively seek out Picota cherries and look forward to the season, and the promotions that accompany it, each year. We have also been encouraged by the reaction of retailers, which have given excellent support to our campaign, and have even seen retailers reposition the fruit in response to the promotional effort.
Our Foods from Spain campaign for the 2008 season will consist of a mix of new elements and tried and tested activity we know will be successful. Specifically, this means in-store advertising, including store radio, floor graphics, and retailer magazines and websites. For the first time this year, we are including an information and recipe booklet in packs of the fruit, with a holiday offer. This will complement our on-pack promotions: ‘Kids go free’, and the very popular ‘Free bottle of Cava’ offer, and our consumer advertising and public relations activity.
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