The watermelon campaign is underway in Almeria with still limited volumes. The cold weather is slowing down the production at a time when European retail chains are starting to show interest in the Spanish product, FreshPlaza informs.
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“We started harvesting and marketing watermelons two weeks ago,” says José Antonio Baños, president of Ejidomar. “So far, there has been a significant supply of Central American watermelons, and prices have been considerably lower compared to last year. The average prices generally range between €0.40 and €0.50 per kilo, while a year ago they stood between €0.80 and €1.00.”
“Now, the major European distribution chains are making room on the shelves for Spanish watermelon, but cold weather has slowed the production down, given the sudden drop in temperatures since last week. After a rather warm winter, it seems like winter is back now that we are in the middle of spring,” says Baños.
“Since the production process is slow and the demand is starting to grow, in many cases, watermelons are being harvested earlier and with smaller sizes. However, the demand is still meant to grow a lot more when the weather warms up again. That’s when we expect prices to recover, especially considering that Almeria’s watermelon acreage has been reduced by between 7 and 10% compared to last year,” says the president of Ejidomar.
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