Inclement weather patterns across southern Europe have led to mixed reports on the quality of continental stonefruit coming into the UK over the last quarter.
The east, south and north-east of Spain were affected in mid-July by hail, rain and high winds, as FPJ reported. Hail in Seville, Andalusia, hit plum varieties, while storms in Lérida also damaged stonefruit orchards. Poor weather earlier in the season had already affected Spanish apricot, cherry and nectarine production.
One trader reports a high incidence of Spanish fruit “cooking on the trees”. He says: “One of our growers in Murcia reported four consecutive days of the thermometer hitting 50oC - the fruit is cooking on the tree and therefore only good for the home market, not for export. Lérida, on the other hand, has not been too bad, with temperatures in the mid-30oCs.”
The same trader is now more or less finished with Spanish fruit, saying product is “not holding up”. “Lérida and Navarra are the only areas we are sourcing from. The quality is fair but it has seen better days. Some of the later varieties are not too bad but they only have a shelf life of three days,” he explains.
Italian product is also lower in supply than in 2007 due to difficult weather conditions over the summer. Some traders claim product from the country is also not keeping well. “Italian fruit was coming in looking fantastic, but within 24 hours much of the fruit was developing black marks - it was too tender and bruising very easily. It was breaking down and we were getting so many complaints,” says one.
But others are still sourcing from Spain and Italy. One insider predicts availability from Spain until the first or second week of October, and says Italian supplies will continue until the end of September. Supplies from Sicily have already dried up, with the season hampered by variable fruit quality, says one importer.
“The fruit we bring in has to be ready to eat so we are looking for lower pressures. Early-season Spanish fruit was very good for this. It has not been a bad season for us - throughout the year, all the countries and most of the regions we source from see some adverse weather. The great thing about sourcing from both Spain and Italy is that if we have problems in one, we can easily switch to the other, as they grow very similar varieties,” says an importer.
The same source reports “no real quality issues” upon arrival - the season has been fairly stable and not as up and down as others have experienced. “Realistically, we are looking at the end of September for the close of northern hemisphere supplies,” he says.
The French stonefruit season kicked off well. Fruit from the Gard region is still fetching good money in the UK market, say insiders, and overall it has been a strong French campaign characterised by good prices. “The market has maintained its money and orders and, unlike some French seasons, there have been no peaks and troughs. It has been quite stable this year for French product into the UK,” says one.
Fruit from the Gard is firm and hard and there are around another four weeks left of the season. Supply from France is expected to dry up around September 15-16. But that all depends on the weather - while it has held up so far in France, storms are forecast towards the middle or end of next week, with hail, rain and heavy winds on the cards.
Looking to other, non-European northern hemisphere sources, Israel and California are enjoying sterling seasons in the UK, with high-quality fruit coming through and sales in good form.
It is too early for indications of how smooth the switchover into southern hemisphere supplies will be, although looking ahead, South African product is due to come on stream in mid- to late October, or early November at the latest.
Sales-wise, the last few months have not been as bad as might have been expected given the poor weather across the UK. “We had good weather here in May and June, which got the ball rolling as far as sales are concerned and, considering the inclement weather we have had this summer, overall sales have not been too bad,” says an importer.
“Of course the euro has not helped returns for growers - last year it was at around €1.46 for £1 and now it’s more like €1.24. Increased fuel, packaging and labour costs are conspiring to make life very difficult for growers, who are starting to ask where their profit is. Quality-wise, it has been a good season, but now growers all over want increased margins.”
Other markets are starting to beckon, for Spanish and Italian growers in particular. “I went to one Spanish packhouse two weeks ago and 80 per cent of what they were doing must have been to Russia,” says one importer. “I know growers in Lérida who are doubling what they are doing to Russia - sending product to the UK just isn’t making as much sense.”
Others agree. “If there isn’t a change in attitude towards stonefruit retailing in the UK, then growers in countries such as Spain will look to new markets such as Russia, the Far East and eastern Europe, which are literally eating up peaches and nectarines,” says one trader. “This is a big threat to UK supply.”
UK STRATEGIES PAY FOR CALIFORNIA
The UK is the fourth-largest market for the California peach, plum, and nectarine industry, writes Gordon Smith, manager of international marketing programmes at the California Tree Fruit Agreement (CTFA).
The 2008 season has been an incredible challenge for our growers and shippers. A larger than average crop, perfect weather and amazing eating quality should translate into much improved returns to the farm than have been received to date. At this juncture, nearly 75 per cent of the crop is packed and shipped, which means plenty of fruit will be available through the end of summer and into autumn. California will have fruit for the UK at least through the end of October, as we have consistently seen varieties being harvested five days later than in 2007.
The industry conducts marketing programmes in the UK and 18 different countries around the world, from Canada and Latin America throughout the Asian Pacific Rim. We will produce over 55 million packs - 11kg packs of peaches and nectarines and 13kg packages of plums - and approximately 20 per cent of that total is exported each season.
While poor weather in Europe can occasionally present new opportunities for our shippers and growers, that does not in any way overshadow the importance of partnerships established between receivers in the UK and export shippers here in California. Transit and cost advantages to European suppliers certainly dictate smaller volumes shipped from California during the middle of the northern hemisphere’s summer.
However, the bulk of Californian shipments to the UK over the past five years occurred before June 15 or after September 1. We focus the majority of our marketing resources early and late, or during what we like to refer to as the shoulders of peak European supplies. From our perspective, this makes sense because it too often becomes simply a volume proposition in mid-summer. But early and late in the season we can differentiate ourselves not only with volume, but also with high brix and strong pressures.
Based on the success in the past two years of focusing on these shoulders, we have seen an increase in more consistent, albeit much smaller volumes from California in July and August. This is due to the availability of and preference for our speciality varieties - donut varieties, inter-specific plums, or subacids - which should have a niche alongside European varieties.
The primary growing region for California peaches, plums, and nectarines is the San Joaquin valley, primarily from Fresno down to Bakersfield, although fresh prune plums and some other varieties are grown further north in the Sacramento Valley.
Some of the largest stonefruit breeders in the world are based here in San Joaquin Valley, and increasingly more growers are developing their own proprietary varieties.
The cost of production first and foremost is the biggest challenge growers face today. Largely dictated by the run-up in global oil prices, the trickle-down effect on all input costs cannot be adequately addressed by simply passing on costs to the packer and shipper. A prime example is how transportation costs impact the entire marketing channel.
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