In recent years Spanish salads have suffered from fears of oversupply. This year the atmosphere is different and producers are largely confident. The industry believes that prices should be strong for the season and demand will be consistent. However, Spain has suffered high summer temperatures which has brought mild concerns.
For some companies the hot weather has raised issues. Trevor Shulton, managing director at importer Rodanto, says the tomato crop is likely to be most affected. “The hot weather has affected all salad products this year, but particularly tomatoes,” he says. “This will probably mean a late start of around two weeks. After this time we will expect to see a full flow of produce.”
The long bouts of hot weather witnessed across northern Europe mean a slightly earlier end to its season of salad products. Coupled with high demand this has raised a few questions.
Shulton believes that a gap is likely but says that when it comes to weather, producers hands are tied. “Due to the extreme weather conditions it is likely a gap will exist in the market between the season end in northern Europe and the start from Spain but very little can be done about this.”
ScSmb Produce is a key player in the Murcia and Mazzaron region. Steve Cornwell, sales and procurement director also runs grower group Spania Fresh produce with his wife Morna Blair-Cornwell and they are optimistic for the beginning of the season. He says: “I believe the tomato season will see a positive start, as they are in short supply.”
Hot conditions make it difficult for Spanish growers to get their produce into the UK any earlier. According to Brian Hibberd, managing director at Abbeyview Produce the early season will be a tough time for tomatoes. “We are involved in beef tomatoes and plum tomatoes, the problems experienced by the Spanish crop are not altogether different from problems witnessed in northern Europe,” he says. “The tomatoes have coloured up during the hot weather meaning that a large quantity could be ready at the same time, and the fast growth rate could potentially mean a shortage of tomatoes later on. The prolonged spells of heat have troubled the plants.”
Shulton agrees that of all Spanish salad crops, tomatoes have been particularly affected. “The plants are very stressed and I think there will be a reduction in production from this year, which could be part of an ongoing decline,” he says.
Others feel that the heat will not cause too many problems. Shicluna says: “I think the problems facing tomatoes during hot spells are a short-term issue for the season. I'm confident that this will not cause problems in the long run.”
This formidable weather has worried Hibberd whose tomato crop is situated in Vera, between Almeria and Alicante. This area is usually the earliest to plant and with the hot weather there have been fewer flowers on the plants. It's not only the tomatoes that are suffering.
Hibberd says the heat has also affected peppers where there could also be a shortage. “With the July plantings the heat has caused problems with the pepper crop,” he says. “High temperatures through the evening also cause problems, as the plants need lower temperatures in the evening. The high temperatures mean that the fruit does not set and this can lead to problems with calcium deficiency.”
At English Leafy Salads, Shicluna states the company's pepper crop will be marginally later than normal. “We are hopeful for the new season, we tried to plant a little bit later,” he says. This was done so we could finish later, as we feel this will be beneficial to our business.”
Hibberd feels that the hot weather will affect the early quality of the pepper crop. “We are expecting high levels of returns in the second week of October. Around this time picking will see a leap,” he says.
Shicluna states that in the tomato area there is a tremendous growth in the field of cherry tomatoes. He says: “This product is consistently going from strength to strength. They are cheap, the quality is extremely good and consumers cannot seem to get enough of them. While there is ongoing development in speciality ranges, the development of cherry tomatoes has been impressive.”
Cornwell says that year-on-year there is steady growth in tomato speciality lines. “This coincides with customer demands and awareness of flavoursome products. Choice is becoming a key player in today's society,” he says.
One salad that should not be harshly affected by the weather is lettuce. Tali Atvars, trading director at AV Produce believes that at the moment there are no concerns with the crop. “The iceberg is looking good at the moment,” says Atvars. “We're not expecting an increase in quantity this year, and although it is a little too early to tell if there are any quality issues everything should be OK.”
The Spanish lettuce crop has remained unaffected by the weather and this is due to the timing of plantings. Atvars explains: “Heat is not a major issue for lettuce. The crop only gets planted mid to late August, so largely the hot weather doesn't have an impact. Also the early season lettuce is planted in the mountains in Caravaca and Baza and this doesn't suffer the kind of hot weather which is experienced in the lowlands.”
Primaflor is confident for the forthcoming lettuce season. Commercial director, Ines Garcia feel there could be an early start to the season. “At the moment everything is coming together nicely,” she says.
According to Cornwell a stable season for lettuce is expected. “A lot less will be grown in the Murcia area, so we feel there will be a more stable and steady pricing season, which will see a better growth in monetary terms,” he says.
Atvars believes AV Produce's crop has been successful for additional reasons. “Our crop, which should be ready between mid-October and the start of November, is drawn from three areas; Alicante, Murcia and Lorca. This gives us an advantage in case there are problems in one of the areas,” he said.
Garcia explains that Primaflor is trying to move further into the market of leafy salads. “At the moment 70 per cent of our crop is iceberg but we are moving further towards baby leaf salads and other speciality varieties. These are growing areas, as interest in iceberg begins to wane slightly. However, the quality of the varieties are looking very good this year,” she says.
Primaflor is also unconcerned with potential problems of over-production. “All the growing we do is in place through programmes, so we only grow what is required. The problems of over-production are of concern to those growers who do not grow through programmes and this is why there were so many problems last year,” says Garcia.
The demand in the UK in the salad sector this summer was so strong that Atvars decided to get some early Spanish crop in to meet consumer needs. “Two to three weeks ago, I brought some Spanish iceberg crop into the UK and although it was a little fluffy to begin with the quality was good.”
The cucumber crop is not reporting any problems and the industry is buoyant on its chances of success. Shulton says: “I can't foresee any problem this year, we began a couple of weeks ago and quality is very good. The cucumbers are largely looked after in greenhouses, so the weather leaves them largely unaffected.”
Leafy English Salads, supplies Asda, and believes that this year will be a good one for cucumbers. “We are expecting to see an increase of 10 to 15 per cent in production, with plenty of interest in the product,” he says.
Hibberd also believes there will be an increase across Spain this year in cucumber growth. “We work closely with the Vicasol and Eurosol co-operatives. Picking doesn't normally begin until late September ñ early October but picking began last week,” he says. “Growers are also choosing to plant slightly earlier as last year they received favourable returns. There is the risk they may clash with Dutch and UK growers, but with the chance of greater returns, they feel it is one worth taking. Good volumes should be seen in the coming weeks.”
Traders are hopeful of buoyant prices this month too. Hibberd says: “Tomatoes and peppers will be dear at this time. Due to some quality issues economy peppers may not be as expensive, but they may clash with Dutch and UK produce.”
Shulton is hopeful for a good season. He says: There is little competition at this time and although it is largely dependent upon the weather we have high hopes.”
Shicluna agrees prices could be high, due to a consequence of demand. He says: “Sales have risen dramatically but the crops have been hurt in tough conditions.” He is also anticipating a pleasing run of form in the coming months. “Although this is traditionally our quiet period, we are anticipating a good run in the period up to Christmas,” says Shicluna. “We would then expect sales to go through the roof in January as consumers look to get healthy, so we are in a positive mood.”
Cornwell is equally upbeat about this season. He says: “We see the winter salad trade with better prices and better returns to the grower, but as always maintaining quality is the leader for better results.”
