Fruit Today talked to Paco Borrás, sales manager from Anecoop, who offered us the first figures from the recently started campaign, as well as the data for Persimon® and for the D.O.
Let’s talk about figures. We are moving with rising forecasts. Are they correct?
Essentially it is obvious that last year around 240,000 tonnes of persimmons were harvested in Spain. Of these, today 90% are in the Valencian Community, reaching approximately 210,000, of which half of them belong to the D.O. The figure that is being weighed up of a 25% increase is quite real. This figure could vary slightly if it were to rain in September, but in principle I would say it is quite correct, therefore we could say that this year in Spain there will be around 300,000 tonnes of persimmon.
What is the quality of the persimmons like this year?
The fruit will be slightly smaller than last year, a normal healthy situation because, although there have been some outbreaks of white fly, they are within normal limits and it is obvious that the market prospects are good. I am convinced that the demand is going to absorb the supply and we will not have any problems.
Could this reduction in size have any consequences for the marketing of the fruit?
No, no. The truth is that the sizes are more normal; last year was exceptional, they were thicker than normal and this caused some problems. I think that this year’s size will be easier to sell. It is more balanced.
What is the Persimon® Group’s forecast?
Specifically, last year the Persimon® Group harvested 96,000 tonnes and this year we could reach a figure of 125,000. This increase, in this case of over 25%, is due to the fact that the group has grown with new incorporations.
Let’s talk about the productions in Lerida and Huelva….
There is little production in Lerida and it remains to be seen whether it will consolidate or not. Following this, there is some in Huelva and Seville as well, but it is not too relevant. We are not concerned about the growth in Andalusia or in Murcia.
On the other hand, when you go to Lerida they talk about persimmons as being a complement to apples and pears…
It is normal for people with large installations, who want to work in the wintertime, to think about persimmons because it is an alternative crop and it is obvious that some of them will manage it, but it is no more than a case that is similar to what happened with citrus fruits in Andalusia. At the end of the day, the technology that has been accumulated, what is already here and the technology that is transmitted, with all of this, someone might manage to control it, even when they are a long way from the production. This could be the case, but the know-how lies in the crop’s original site.
If this is the case, it is worth noticing the fact that the 2016 4th International Symposium on Persimmon, which will be held after Fruit Attraction, takes place in-between Valencia and Andalusia.
This is a subject that has been in progress for decades and we would have to look back in time to understand the history behind this. When this Symposium started in Spain there were two persimmon blocks, one belonged to Antonio Medina with his brand name Sharoni and the other, the Rojo billante. It is likely that they were equally important in production amounts. We are now in the sixth edition of a congress that is held every four years. Therefore, this means that twenty years’ ago there were already persimmons in Huelva and at that time the amount produced was the same in the two blocks. Over these 24 years the production has changed greatly and now most of its is concentrated here, in Valencia.
