The Persimon Group at Anecoop is the indisputable world leader for persimmons. Its crop represents 55% of the Spanish production.
The second-grade cooperative created the Persimon Group over a decade ago. This group has managed to combine qualities and establish demanding protocols for persimmons. Since then, under the brand name Bouquet, the knowledge and consumption of persimmons have been unstoppable, both on the Spanish and on the European markets.
The current campaign is unfolding with very different parameters to the previous one, in which the important produce volumes affected the low price profitability for the producers.
In general, it is estimated that the entire Spanish production will drop by 30%. “At Anecoop we are handling a harvest volume that is similar to last year’s, perhaps slightly lower, when we marketed 162,000 tonnes. Even so, we still have to wait several weeks, because bad weather can always occur, such as the hailstorm that affected some locations in La Ribera a few weeks ago,” comments Carlos Nemesio, product manager at the organisation.
However, the executive emphasises that “there is less production, but the quality and calibres are very good and the markets continue demanding this product, which over the next few years will have a long way to go, because there are still consumers who do not know about it.”
The production aspect
The truth is that this crop, which was incredibly profitable a few years ago, has been overwhelmed by problems. This year the main obstacles have been pests, and not precisely ones from the crop itself, but rather those coming from other species, such as citrus fruit mealy bugs. Added to this, Brussels withdrew the only active material that is really effective against the pest, chlorpyrifos-methyl.
“This ban has left us without an effective tool and, at present, no other products exist,” Nemesio explains.
In a year when more demand than supply is expected and in which the markets are showing a correct fluidity, everything is pointing towards a reasonable campaign, with producers recovering profitability. “The prices that have appeared on the market to date are higher than last year’s during the same period,” the executive concludes.
