Fruit Attraction is the most important and long-awaited annual event for Campo de Lorca-Cricket. An event for which they work conscientiously on every detail. An example of this is their stand, designed with care paid to each element to ensure that it reflects and communicates the values of their brand, Cricket, seeking to connect with both clients and friends.
“The trade fair brings visibility that we take full advantage of to promote our product lines, presenting new developments and innovations, sharing the latest projects we have been working on and offering unique gastronomic experiences,” Toñi Piernas, the Communications Manager at Cricket, indicates.
New developments in lettuces and artichokes
As a specialist in brassicas, Cricket will continue to strengthen its already consolidated range of vegetables, including broccoli, cauliflower, flat cabbage, curly cabbage, kale, and Bimi, which enjoys great stability in production volume. In addition, as a new development they are adding “two new small lines of lettuce and pointed cabbage that extend our offer and diversify our portfolio,” explains Juan Marin, the General Manager.
Another of the campaign’s star products will be the artichoke, with an estimated growth of 20% in the Blanca de Tudela variety and in Green Queen F1. “After five years of low production due to its reduced profitability, this year we have decided to recover the volumes of this vegetable that has a long tradition in our company.”
On a production level, they are facing up to the season with very good prospects. “After three years of uncertainty in the post-Covid era, we are seeing a more stable behaviour on the markets, which allows us to create more solid commitments with our clients. In spite of coming from a tough summer, marked by the heat and the drought, we have placed our trust in the resources available to us to ensure that this will be a good campaign. We have well-managed farms, water resources and experience to ensure the quality and availability of our products.”
On the other hand, the water prospects “make us hope that the amount we have at the headwaters of the Tagus River and the desalinated water will be enough to tackle the campaign, in spite of the fact that it has not rained much in the Segura basin. We have limited resources, but they should be enough.”
Stability in BIO and R&D
In BIO, they are continuing with the trend from previous years and are maintaining a stable, sustained growth in the Cricket Bio broccoli and cauliflower lines.
In R&D, they are starting the campaign with two new projects working alongside IMIDA and the UPCT to seek out solutions to production problems. They are also working on the BIODiversityGrow programme with the Universidad Politécnica de Valencia, focused on continuous sustainability and progressive reduction of pesticides in artichoke, broccoli and cauliflower crops.
“Our commitment to innovation in healthy products is reflected in the vegetable Crackers range that we launched as a pilot scheme at Fruit Attraction 2023.” Prepared using 100% natural ingredients, they include flavours such as broccoli, artichoke, kale, and Lombard cabbage, and a special pack that brings together all the flavours under the name of La Pandi. “We will present the final version of the line at the Innovation Hub Awards, bringing our products closer to new audiences,” Toñi Piernas states.
Likewise, they will take part in ‘Factoría Chef’ with Pablo González-Conejero with a show cooking event to show the versatility of their vegetables, offering an “incredible gastronomic experience.”
