"The time of just planting and seeing what happens is over"

Horticola Guadalfeo from Motril has been increasingly focusing on special tomatoes in recent years. An example of this is the tomato variety of 'before'. "Right now we are in a difficult part of the year with regards to the availability," says the Dutch Ellen van Kester. "In the summer most tomatoes come from the mountains. Not much is available there now and less has been planted compared to other years. The coastal area, including ALmeria-Motril, will now slowly get going, but it will be the end of October/start of November before there are larger numbers. The numbers of cherry and cherry plum tomatoes are especially small and the prices are high."

Ellen at the Fruit Attraction in Madrid

"Like among most Spanish companies we mainly grow 'a la carte'. The time of planting and seeing what will happen is over. This is mainly the result of higher production costs and the shifting markets," says Ellen. Guadalfeo has started focusing more on the national market in recent years as this is where the advantage of year round numbers is.

"The export often stops around the end of April, whilst the productions continue. That means continuing to ship to these customers is a big advantage, which isn't the case with most export customers."

For more information:
Ellen van Kester
Horticola Guadalfeo
Ctra. Celulosa Km.199
18600 Motril
Tel: 958 60 23 04
Fax: 958 82 49 26
[email protected]
www.hguadalfeo.com