As occurs every year, Reyes Gutiérrez is arriving at Fruit Logística with its stand to meet up with its clients and suppliers and to set new goals for 2023. The main target is to continue improving trade relations to ensure that the campaigns are as satisfactory as possible for both parties. And within this area, they will spotlight their important offer in tropical fruit, along with their wide assortment of boxes and packaging to give the best option for their future clients.
The avocado campaign is being considered as “different, with little presence of the main sizes in loose produce and with plenty of medium-sized fruit.” As a short season is expected, with less volume, it is difficult to predict the final balance, but the company already has “approximately 400 hectares of our own crop that will give us added value in the sector and a unique strategic position.”
In addition, they have started up an ambitious growth plan to reach 1,000 hectares of their own crops for 2025. “Currently we have 50 has in La Axarquía, 150 in Cadiz and 200 in Setúbal (Portugal)”, explains the manager, Juan Antonio Reyes.
“At Reyes Gutiérrez we are focussed on our current projects, but we do not rule out growing in new areas, as in Valencia we have our subsidiary company, Reyes Gutiérrez Frutas Valencianas, at Mercovasa.”
Alongside their own production, they have imported fruit from different sources; amongst them is Morocco, which they use depending on the needs, the programmes and the market situation.
Without any doubt, one of the most compelling problems this year is inflation. “It has made the situation tense amongst all the elements involved in each transaction, as this increase in price has not been passed on to our clients, perhaps due to excessive competition or perhaps for fear of losing the clients when faced with a specific rise.”
Smooth-skinned fruit, limited to the East
In recent years, Eastern countries have been developing smooth-skinned avocados. Could this trend spread to Spain? “It is complicated for it to continue growing on the rest of the European markets as it will be difficult for consumers to change from Hass (rough-skinned) to a smooth-skinned avocado, due to the knowledge or methodology used with it, because they don’t change colour when they ripen, to their smooth skin without any roughness, their different shape, their different percentage of fats, etc.”
