The current campaign coincides with the Gandia company’s 40th anniversary, and it wanted to publicize this event on all its shipments.
“We are a family-run company that has been working in the sector for four decades, and we wanted to emphasise this fact on all our packaging and show our loyalty to our customers.”
The company, with a clearly export profile, has decided not to increase volumes to long distance countries, due to the fact that the quality of the fruit has not been the most suitable for standing these long distances. “We have meditated long and hard regarding exporting to these destinations because, due to the high temperatures the fruit does not last and we decided to work more on our traditional European market”, explains Abel Alarcón, manager of the company.
Regarding the course of the campaign, the executive states that it has been a season where both mandarins and clementines came along very fast: “the weather conditions have meant that some varieties have ended earlier than usual, such as the Nules, which finished in December when it normally comes to an end in January. If we had extended the business, we would not have had the quality we demand.”
Although time has now passed, the company (which has a subsidiary in the French capital) was also affected in this first part of the campaign by the Paris attacks, which for a week meant a collapse of the market, because all normal activity was interrupted in the neighbouring country.
Its own production, which now exceeds 1,500 tonnes, continues to increase and the Valencian company intends its next investments to be made on this aspect. “Our most immediate future in investments will lie in production and later on, we will continue with new infrastructures, which have not yet been completely designed.”
The company expects to market around 14,000 tonnes of produce this season, a figure that is similar to the one for the previous campaign.
