The torrential rains that DANA dumped on the main persimmon production area in Spain, in the province of Valencia, had a notable impact on the supply of this product, whose season will end earlier this year.
“The DANA made us lose 50% of our persimmon harvest, with which, unlike other years, we will at best be able to arrive at Christmas, because with the limited supply available, the priority is not to stop the flow of supply as soon as it arrives from the fields, discouraging the possibility of storing the fruit in cold stores,” comments Manuel Baides, manager of the Fruta de Autor group.
In fact, the drop in volumes in a production area as important as Ribera del Xúquer, in Valencia, has caused demand to explode in other production areas in Spain, such as Huelva, as well as in other countries such as Italy, Morocco and Greece.
Manuel Baides and his colleague Lázaro Pérez travel to Saudi Arabia to check the progress of the first arrivals of Bright Red persimmon and clementine with leaf on the shelves of the main chains in this country.
“We started with very good prices for persimmons in Saudi Arabia due to limited availability. They ask us for larger quantities, but after what happened in Valencia, we had to halve the planned programs,” explains Mr. Baides.
“Demand is higher than supply and we are focusing more on selling to the domestic market and European countries. Curiously, despite the increase in prices, importers are not pushing to negotiate them, because the difficulty is finding sufficient volumes. This is a situation in which we have received the support and understanding of our customers, as the shocking images of the disaster have gone around the world,” says Mr. Baides.
“We are very satisfied with the quality of the persimmons and leafy clementines that are on the shelves in Saudi Arabia,” says the director of Fruta de Autor. “While the Oronules were at a more advanced stage of maturation in the fields and were more affected by the rains, the Clemenules were at a more advanced stage of color change and, in most cases, even benefited from it. We are pleased to see that our products are increasingly better positioned in this market. »
Fruta de Autor will also send oranges to Saudi Arabia, but will wait until the end of the Egyptian season. “Egypt is just starting and it’s too complicated to compete with their prices. This is why we will focus on European and overseas markets, we will ship mainly to Central and South America until February, continuing later with Saudi Arabia as well,” specifies Manuel Baides.
“The Dubai market has also been put on hold since the Red Sea conflict emerged following the Gaza war, as the transit time has extended to around 30 days and we can only send fruits that can withstand such long journeys. We are maintaining shipments because they are transported by road from the port of Jeddah in Saudi Arabia,” explains Mr. Baides.
For more information:
Manuel Baides
Author Fruit SL
Such. : +34 961 018 189
Cell : +34 615104344
[email protected]
Lazaro Perez
Cell : +34 636 62 31 55
[email protected]
www.frutadeautor.com
www.grupoautor.es
