Nectarine harvest kicked off a week ahead of schedule in Huelva

The nectarine harvest has already started in Huelva, the earliest stone fruit producing area in Spain, and this year it has done so a week earlier than in the previous season.

"We started harvesting white and yellow-fleshed nectarines on March 23, exactly a week earlier than in the previous campaign," says Victoria Martín, from the marketing and sales department of Plus Berries Group. "The fruit's quality is excellent thanks to the good winter rest the trees got. We've had more than 220 hours of cold, which is quite a lot for our area."

"We've had all the necessary factors for a good harvest, as after the cold, we've had warm days that have allowed the trees to have a good fruit load. Now, however, after a few weeks of heat, we are having some cloudy and colder weather that will slow down the ripening and harvest a bit," says Victoria.

"At this time, we are marketing some small volumes in Spain, France and Belgium, but in the coming days, as the volume increases, we will be opening lines with major distributors in other European countries," says the head of marketing and sales at Plus Berries.

"We are relatively alone in the market, although the earliest productions from Murcia, which are also ahead this year, will arrive soon. Meanwhile, South Africa has already finished its campaign and large European distributors are very eager to start with the Spanish fruit, which guarantees the EU's quality and food safety standards," says Victoria.

Plus Berries expects to harvest and market around 4.7 million kilos of stone fruit, mainly nectarines, peaches and plums. This is a greater volume than in the previous campaign, with new varieties entering production and the entire supply with a Zero Residue certification.

"Thanks to Huelva's weather conditions and the cultivation in macro tunnels, we can always ensure a good supply and a differentiated quality, as the crops are protected from adverse weather phenomena. When we finish with the productions in Huelva, we will continue until November with the PlusBerries production lines in Badajoz," says Victoria.