In mid-May, the stone fruit season will start in the Spanish region of Aragon and in the province of Lleida, where, in line with what has happened in other growing regions, the rains in March have had an impact on the pollination of some varieties.
"In general, the initial forecast for the stone fruit season was that this would be a year with a good volume, although due to various factors, such as rain, sub-optimal pollination or poor fruit set in certain varieties and early fruit types, mainly apricot, as well as the impact of hail in Lleida, the total production is going to be lower," says Rodrigo Masip, from Conjuntfruit.
"We at Conjuntfruit feel very fortunate because we haven't felt the impact of last weekend's hailstorm. Our organic pear farms in the Lleida area were all under netting, so they have been saved, and the crop forecast remains at the million kilos we initially estimated. The conventional Golden and Gala apple farms were also under netting, in an area where, moreover, no hail fell. The storm did hit some areas devoted to stone fruit, but in general, things are going well for most of the production," he says.
In the area, the season has generally fallen on the same dates as last year for both conventional and organic fruit, "although we cannot forget that in recent years, the harvesting has taken place one or two weeks ahead of the usual dates. Therefore, whether due to climate change or for other reasons, we will once again start quite early," says Rodrigo.
"This coincides with the fact that the Murcia season is about 8-10 days late, so we fear that there will be an overlap between harvests. However, we don't expect there to be a big impact on prices, as Murcia's peach and apricot production is said to have fallen by 30-40%, so we are not expecting any market saturation issues."
"We are very excited because we're going to start selling Demeter stone fruit this year"
Conjuntfruit, based in Torrefarrera, in the province of Lleida, specializes in the production of organic pome and stone fruit. Specifically in the stone fruit segment, the company continues to expand the acreage devoted to one of the most interesting varieties within the peach family: the Paraguayo peach. In 2023, the marketing of round and flat peaches (Paraguayo and platerina) was done separately for the first time, which shows the weight of flat peaches within the peach group, as they account for more than 60% of the total fruit marketed in the key period of the season (June-September).
"Organic flat peach consumption is growing, even in spite of the general decline in fruit consumption. This is why, three years ago, we started up a 10-hectare plantation devoted to organic flat peaches, which has been expanded to 12 hectares this year. The plantations are still very young, but this year we expect to harvest around 350,000 kilos of organic flat peaches, which are also Biosuisse and Naturland-certified, and are in the process of conversion to Demeter," says Rodrigo Masip.
"We are very excited because we are going to start marketing Demeter nectarines, peaches, and apricots this year; approximately half a million kilos of them. It's a new project and we've already seen interest from some of the clients we already work with in Switzerland and Germany, as well as from supermarkets that are introducing Demeter fruit, such as Edeka, and we are planning to increase our volumes over the next few years," he says.
"We are facing a paradigm shift in the production model"
In Spain, the consumption of organic foodstuffs, whether under the Biosuisse, Naturland, or Demeter format, is still limited, while the foreign market remains interesting. "In fact, 95% of our production is exported. We would love to be able to work with Spain too, but it's very difficult. On the one hand, because consumers are not choosing to increase their consumption of organic foods, but, on the other hand, because the large chains that are committed to organic tend to give priority to large conventional suppliers who also provide them with a fraction of organic in broker or intermediary format," says Rodrigo.
"However, there are many reasons to support the consumption of organic food," he says, "because we are facing a paradigm shift in the production model. Since the Second World War, cheap, large-scale production has been encouraged, but we are now at a point where soil fertility has fallen, and yields are no longer the same. Intensification in production has pushed land and crops to the extreme, and has led to a decrease in soil fertility, increasing erosion and loss of arable soil, as well as a greater presence of pests and diseases, which are also increasingly growing resistance due to abuse in the use of pesticides. Meanwhile, organic farming aims to seek a balance in the cycle of nutrient extraction and replenishment."
"Besides, there's also climate change, which is having an increasing impact on food production and water availability, and everything points to the fact that we are heading for years in which, in general, there will be a shortage of fruit, rather than a surplus. For this reason, we encourage Spanish chains and consumers to opt for a production model that cares for our planet and offers healthy and sustainable food," and to look for the products they want at source.
For more information:
Conjuntfruit
[email protected]
https://conjuntfruit.es/