When the campaigns of Almeria's big five crops, zucchini, eggplant, tomato, pepper, and cucumber, are coming to an end in most production areas, two other big ones arrive: melon and watermelon. No two seasons are the same there. Almeria's fruit and vegetable producers are challenged by uncontrollable factors every year. The weather, the market situation, or the possible impact of pests, for example, all need to be taken into account by companies, but other more unexpected factors, such as warehouse fires, might also suddenly come into play and will need to be addressed in the best way possible.
The pictures of a well-known warehouse going down in flames are still fresh in everyone's memory. When activity is usually frenetic, how can you continue working when you have lost your facilities? Rafael López, who's the manager of MABE, experienced this situation a year ago.
"On May 27, we had the fire, and we had to deal with its impact as best we could. Fortunately, when it happened, other companies were not as busy, and we were able to use their facilities from September to December. Despite the fire, this vegetable season has been good overall," says López.
"This year, the pepper season has been the most difficult one due to the presence of thrips. At a given time, the plantations were very badly affected. Later on, with the cold weather, the situation started to improve, but the problem remained severe until then," says the manager.
"The presence of thrips is due to the lack of products allowed to fight them. If growers don't have permission to use certain products, pests become very difficult to control. This, together with the high temperatures, has facilitated the spread of thrips. The impact was indeed limited to certain areas, but entire bell pepper plantations were lost," says López.
"Cucumbers and peppers were hit by hailstorms in the fall. The eggplant season has been better than last year's. Perhaps the rains have helped. Volumes have been more or less the same, but the season has been good," he says.
"This season, I'd say that we've been under less pressure from Turkey and Morocco. Other years have been very tough, especially with zucchini and cucumber, but, in general, competition has been less noticeable," says López.
As far as melon and watermelon are concerned, the head of MABE says that "the season started very slow due to the cold and delays in the setting, but now we have reached a normal production pace and, in general, the fruit's sugar levels are good."
MABE is particularly focused on bell peppers, although it also works with other vegetables, and its preferred market is Europe. Almost its entire production goes to Germany, France, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands, with some shipments to Scandinavia, Italy, and Austria.
"We arrange programs with supermarkets so that our production can be adapted to the needs of clients, and we are able to work in a more organized way. We don't have to deal with as many price peaks, which ensures more stability for everyone," says López.
For more information:
Rafael López
MABE Sat
Tel.: +34 950 583 300
[email protected]
www.mabesat.com