Due to the increasing popularity of Cara Cara oranges, the blood orange appears to be in more demand. Unfortunately there’s a bit of a mix-up, because Cara Cara is not part of the blood orange family. Cara Cara is a navel orange with red flesh that can be eaten as it is. Popular blood oranges such as Morro and Tarocco are juice oranges. Demand for these continues to decrease.
The majority of blood oranges come from the Italian island of Sicily, but they can also be found in Spain, Israel, Brazil, South Africa, Turkey, Morocco and Egypt. Nowhere are the blood oranges as red as on the slopes of Mount Etna on Sicily. The fertile soil and a combination of cold winter nights and a sunny climate during the day ensure an optimal development of pigments. More than 75 per cent of the acreage is grown organically, and of this, 80 per cent is juiced and used in other products. Blood oranges have a refreshingly sweet to fresh and sour flavour. The blood oranges are believed to have originated in the Mediterranean area around 1850. There are three real blood orange varieties; Tarocco and Morro are available from January, and the Sanguinello arrives later. Prices are now between 1.20 and 1.50 euro per kilogram.
The Cara Cara orange, on the other hand, was discovered on a plantation in Hacienda Cara Cara in Venezuela in 1976, and the fruit is probably named for this plantation. This citrus is an orange, and not a blood orange. It’s presumed to be a cross or mutation of the Washington navel orange. In the late 1980s the fruit arrived in the US via Florida. The fruit was shipped to Europe much later, and it has been available for European consumers for a few years now. This fruit is mostly grown in Spain and Italy, although it can be found in various locations in the Mediterranean. Cara Cara is gaining in popularity due to its red flesh and sweet flavour. Prices for this orange are 20 to 30 cents higher than those of regular oranges.
Staay Food Group is a supplier of the entire fresh produce range including blood oranges in the Netherlands. Sander Rutten from Staay says: “It’s expected demand for blood oranges will continue to decrease. Morro is a very old variety, and somewhat more difficult to store.I think this variety is past its peak. These weeks, we import about one to two lorries per week. Each lorry transports about 22.5 tonnes of blood oranges, and these are sold though various channels in the Netherlands. The prices of regular oranges aren’t great at the moment because of the large supply from Spain, Egypt and Morocco. Blood oranges have better pricing, and Cara Cara currently has the best prices.”
Yet other voices can also be heard. While demand for blood oranges is currently dropping, Eelco Landwaart from the shop of the same name in Maartensdijk only sees sales of blood oranges rising. “Years ago I personally went to Sicily to see how these oranges are grown, and to strike a deal. Because of this trip, I have the best Tarocco blood oranges from all of Italy three months per year. I chose Tarocco because the quality of this fruit is much higher than that of the Morro, and it has a better flavour than other varieties. During this period I make desserts and cakes with the blood orange. When I let customers taste these, they often buy both cake and a net of blood oranges. That way, we manage to sell more blood oranges every year.”
At the last edition of the Fruit Logistica, Staay Food Group announced there are still plenty of developments in the field of blood oranges. For example, a new variety is being worked on. This concerns the Tarocco but with a deeper colour, more like the Morro. Sander: “We received a test pallet of this variety in week 7, so that we can decide if we want to take this variety into our assortment. It’s more of a juice orange that can also be eaten as is.”