Josep Lluis Trilla, sales manager at Actel, is calling for calm in the sector and defending a fair price for the farmers.
At the midpoint of the production campaign, Fruit Today talked to the Catalonian executive, who explained that “from now onwards we must remain calm and maintain the prices that have been reached so far, and even, if possible, increase them. The circumstances are not conducive to any drops in price, as there is no produce surplus for any species or subspecies. We cannot afford another year like the two previous ones, when farmers were under much pressure. We can offer an increase in service to the distribution channels, but we must not harm the prices.”
Although the campaign has worked reasonably well until week 30, “we must be intelligent in order to be able to continue maintaining these prices, which provide profitability for the farmers and will let them start investing again and recovering the losses from previous years”, he emphasises.
The main reason for this situation is the shortage of produce, possibly more than that announced in the official figures, as well as the lack of coincidence between Italy’s and Spain’s production peaks.
Every positive aspect has its negative side and, in this case, it is worth mentioning that the fruit has not reached the same levels of quality as in other seasons, owing to a very unusual winter and some subsequent cold days that caused an important level of wastage.
The campaign has also been marked by the extraordinary measures coming into effect (applied as a result of the Russian veto) earlier than in the two previous years. These measures came into force on the 1st of July, but the quota had been dropped to 11,000 tonnes (charged to extraordinary measures), and owing to the wastage level in the fruit, these measures have been considered clearly insufficient. “In fact, 12 days before the end of the month of July, the volume for this month has already been covered and with the quality of the produce as it is, I predict that in August the quota will be covered very quickly” Trilla recalls.
Markets. In addition to the traditional destinations, where the cooperative has always worked, Actel has been getting ready to take on new markets, such as South Africa, a country where fruit takes around twenty days to arrive.
“The exports are necessary for two reasons: due to the amount and to the price because the Spanish market consumes little fruit and some large supermarkets are also reluctant to maintain prices that generate profitability for the farmers.”
During this season, the opportunities shown by the Asian markets have been put to one side, not just due to the difficulty and risk involved in sending a ship that takes 40 days to reach its destination, but because, at present, there is no price differential.
Regarding the consequences of the Brexit, the executive states that “it won’t be the same selling on a borderless market as on one with borders and it is difficult to foresee what might happen. Although, it might well affect us more than the Russian veto because 10 or 15% of our produce is exported to the United Kingdom.”
In its diversifying zeal towards other productions, Actel is maintaining an agreement to start marketing pomegranates. From September, for a six week period, the Catalonian cooperative is expecting to distribute around 25 tonnes of produce per week from the Alicante region.
