At CASI they foresee a 15% reduction in surface area for melons and watermelons. In their case, this drop will be slightly lower, -12%. “Our farmers have decided to extend the winter campaign with long-cycle crops, but by analysing the data and following the day-by-day work of the plantations with our Technical Department, we can affirm that we have a larger production due to good setting and some excellent weather conditions for any cucurbitaceae plants.”
Therefore, they expect to market around 20 million kg of watermelons and melons including all the different business lines (Spanish and export), with 400 has of crop in different production areas.
Sources at CASI foresee a start to the campaign with high prices and high demand.
This year, all the costs (crop, production, handling and work force) have increased considerably compared to 2022, with an 18% rise. For this reason, they are being forced to pass this rise on to their marketing, to “defend the interests of our cooperative and our farmers.”
In spite of this, they have not stopped modernising their installations. For watermelons and melons, they have implemented 3 completely robotic, automatic high production calibrators, with which they can reach maximum daily productions of 750,000 kg in conventional and bio crops.
In Marketing actions, CASI will promote its watermelons in the main Wholesale Markets within the ‘Club del Frutero’ (Fruit seller’s Club) campaign, where CASI’s Reina may be tasted as well as a cocktail that will be prepared on the spot. Likewise, they will continue promoting watermelons in their online store, particularly Princess by CASI, “where we are one of the few online stores with this typology.”
Involvement
In this campaign all the management boards have led specific actions in the fields, production and marketing. “Our main aim is to grow in volume, while conserving the quality that differentiates CASI.”
To this end, they have a specialist field team that guarantees that the quality is excellent, directed by the Technical Department, and they have provided business intelligence, adding the available information to the data from the Production Department, in order for the Commercial Area to have all the details and for the watermelons to reach the markets in the best conditions.
