Official forecasts from the whole of Spain are not yet available, but the Valencia region, which grows the lion's share of the orange and easy-peel crop is expecting volumes to rise by 2.5 per cent on last season. “The biggest increase is in clementines, and mainly in clemenules,” says Belmonte. “There is less fruit from the second wave of clems and varieties such as Fortuna and clemenvilla, but it is still a bit early to predict volumes accurately. The very hot August meant that some fruit fell from the trees, but that may mean that remaining fruit is heavier so the overall effect on volumes is hard to tell. We will have to wait and see.”
Isolated hail in some parts of the Valencia region has not affected volumes overall and Belmonte reports good quality and sizes in line with profiles for a normal year. However, the season is starting a week to 10 days later than usual on the early varieties as growers have had to wait a bit longer than usual for sugars to reach the desired levels and skin finish to achieve the desired colour.
This late start to the early varieties is not expected to carry on throughout the season as cooler temperatures more in line with recent seasons took over in the main growing areas in later August and into September. “Marisol will not start harvesting until the end of September,” says Belmonte. “But after that the season will catch up on the later start.”
“There is no one, specific challenge facing us this year,” Belmonte told the Journal. “But what producers are doing continually ñ and we see its results more and more each year ñ is adapting their production to consumer demand. There is the obvious high level of concern with regard to environmental issues illustrated by the development of EurepGAP. And food safety with growers adopting more controls and adapting to new structures in the marketplace. The UK has really been at the forefront of these developments but I believe the rest of Europe is catching up. And Spanish producers and exporters are proving themselves to be very versatile in meeting and adapting to these demands.”
Scarcity of water dominates thinking in many parts of southern and south-eastern Spain. But now that national government has a water strategy ñ and more specifically plans to divert water from the river Ebro to some of Spain's driest areas in Alicante, Murcia and parts of Valencia ñ citrus growers hope that in the medium to long term, their water problems will be solved.
The UK market is one of Spain's most important. And it will benefit once again this season from a concerted promotional push organised by Intercitrus and Foods from Spain. However, it is not an easy one for Spanish growers to supply with stringent supermarket specifications. Rationalisation of the customer base and the concentration of an ever larger proportion of market share in the hands of an ever smaller group of players brings with it its own demands, too. “It is a high quality market and it means we have to do things very well,” says Belmonte. He also reports that increasing numbers of Spanish producers are getting EurepGAP accreditation each year and the number of packhouses that are audited to British Retail Consortium standards is increasing. “This is not something that happens overnight, but it shows that in Spain growers are aware that they need to follow certain protocols,” he adds.
Intercitrus has a role to play here and the organisation is working hard to influence the authorities and oversee the process of introduction of integrated crop management protocols in Spain. Its aims is that the same system is introduced across Spain's different autonomous regions and is in line with requirements of EurepGAP and systems in other EU member states.
The UK also differs from some of its near neighbours in terms of its variety preference. Germany and France and much of the rest of Europe has a clear preference for clementines and production in Spain is being geared to meet this. The UK, however is a market which is strong for satsumas. “The UK is our most important market for satsumas,” explains Belmonte. “But satsuma production in Spain is declining. We are facing very stiff competition from China in the segmenting market and Spain has started to lose market share. We are trying to protect our interests and have asked the EU to introduce a safeguard clause to prevent the dumping of Chinese product. But the future for satsumas could be difficult.”
Spain also has its eye on other market opportunities and is in negotiation with Japan for market access and also looking forward to the accession of the next 10 EU member states. Belmonte expects standards of living in the former Eastern Bloc countries will rise after membership as more wealth is created and so consumers will have more to spend and Spanish citrus stands to benefit.
And for the immediate future, Belmonte believes he speaks for the whole sector when he expresses his optimism. “The prospects are good,” he says. “We have good quality fruit, there are no shortages and overall I think we are facing a normal season. We must still keep our fingers crossed for the weather and if we have problems we will work on them ñ just like we have always done.”
SAINSBURY'S SETS NEW CHALLENGES
“In terms of the retail citrus market, we have been performing very well,” says Sainsbury's citrus buyer and overall head of fruit Stuart Forder. “We are where we would expect to be. Citrus is our second most important category at the moment after top fruit ñ bananas of course has been significantly impacted upon by the well-documented deflationary issues ñ and if we continue to perform well in citrus, we continue to drive the whole of produce forward.”
Forder has consolidated his category supply base down to two companies ñ Chingford Fruit and Mack Multiples ñ for the coming season. This consolidation will make our relationship even more open with our supply base ñ increasing the transparency of management information, allowing for greater understanding of cost structures in relevant business areas and a more cohesive offer to the customer.”
Sainsbury's expects to be 7-10 days behind schedule with Spain, with the first fruit in store early part of next week. “As ever there has been temperature fluctuation, but all fruit has been affected by that,” says Forder. “That has settled down now in Spain and there should not be any real effect on size or volumes for our programmes.”
Sainsbury's soft citrus:hard citrus split is 60:40 and clementines are the backbone of the Spanish offer. Marisols are being supplemented by younger plantations of new generation varieties to extend the choice to Sainsbury's customers. “Our primary objective is to achieve the right flavour profile for our customer base,” says Forder. “Our suppliers have worked hard to optimise the brix and acid ratios and it appears that we will have a very good eating year. What we constantly strive for is consistency of taste across the season.
Spanish satsumas will be on-shelf from next week through to mid January ñ the mainstay variety Owari is expected to be in supply by mid October, like the rest slightly delayed on last year.
Forder says: “Our easy peeler volumes will as ever build up to and through the Christmas period. Mandarins, which play a smaller part in the category, will be available from mid November.
“Oranges also look in good shape, Navelinas are later, but only by a week and volumes might be slightly lower, Lane Lates and Navel Lates are on course for a good run after Christmas and I would expect us to perform extremely well on oranges, as we have been putting a lot of concentration on this sub-category.
“As ever the category will be immensely competitive and we will be looking to broaden the repertoire and challenge ourselves over promotional mechanics, all aimed at enticing more people into the fruit category in-store.
MMUK LOOKS FOR GREATER DEFINITION
The Spanish season is going to start seven to 10 days late, according to Duncan Macintyre, technical director of Muñoz Mehadrin UK (MMUK). “Satsumas still have high acid levels and are not edible yet. Picking will start this week in the earlier areas of Pago and Oliva and I think it will be the end of next week before we have fruit here in the UK.”
Early clementine Marisol will be next off the tree and with picking due to commence between September 28-30, MMUK will have fruit available around October 8. That too is a little late, but earlier than the Oronules from Huelva, a recently planted variety that is a mutation of Fina. “Oronules are small fruiting, with a deep orange rind and have a much richer flavour than the Marisol,” says Macintyre.
“There have been significant plantings, mainly in the south where it is easier to buy new plantations, but quite a lot is not in production yet.”
As the southern hemisphere easy peeler crop tails off, the UK market generally lays down the welcome mat for new season fresh, Spanish fruit. While extreme heat and lack of cool nights has caused the initial delay this season, the Spanish climate has calmed down and the early signs are for a fine eating crop across the board. “The weather is good at the moment,” says Macintyre. “Therefore the fruit is developing nicely. Sugar levels will be high and the acid level is high as well. Providing the acid levels drop down ñ and there is every indication that they will ñ ratios will be very good.
“There has been a bit of hail damage, but it has been very localised. Some producers have experienced extreme conditions, but a mile down the road their neighbours have escaped unscathed. Overall, volumes should not be affected ñ we expect to have roughly the same as last year.”
Macintyre feels that the rapid expansion of easy peelers still has some way to go and that the end consumer can become more aware of the vagaries of the different varieties. “While the retailers have done a very good job defining the satsuma, clementine and mandarin types on-shelf, with colour themed packaging, I still don't think their customers fully appreciate the differences between the varieties,” he says.
“Tastings can be effective but are a little cumbersome, but I think the on-pack and on-shelf messages will become more specific and targeted. Satsumas, with their sweetness, lack of seeds and easy peeling attributes for instance, can be marketed as ideal for children, while mandarins, which are often harder to peel but offer a richer flavour are likely to appeal more to the connoisseur. There have been developments in this direction, but there is further to go.”
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