Spanish lemon output falls

Spanish grapefruit and lemon sector body Ailimpo has announced its forecast for the lemon crop this season.

Output of lemons is expected to fall 6.4 per cent on last year to 870,000 tonnes.

According to Ailimpo, this volume is in line with a “normal” season, although it has classified fruit quality as “exceptional”.

Quantities of maincrop Fino lemons are expected to fall slightly this season, while summer lemon variety Verna is forecast to show an increase. Verna is not usually exported to the UK, which takes southern hemisphere fruit instead at the end of the Fino season.

Ailimpo said in a statement that it expected a “highly competitive marketplace” during the new campaign as Turkey has “an aggressive offer” particularly on eastern European markets.