The table grape campaign has just started in Murcia with the marketing of the first extra-early grapes. "We started last week with the first exports of Spanish table grapes, which we hope to be able to supply until December. This year we have our own harvest in Brazil, so we will make the switch gradually, depending on how the harvest goes," says Cristina Gutiérrez, head for sales and marketing at El Ciruelo.
So far, it has been a very rainy year in the producing areas of Murcia and Almería, but the rain has fallen at the right times for the crop. "We expect normal volumes. We regulate the harvests every year, sacrificing kilos, but ensuring quality and a certain volume, which is usually similar every year. However, this year we'll continue to grow to cover more market windows and offer more options to our clients. We expect a 10% growth this year," says Cristina Gutiérrez.
El Ciruelo starts its campaign with white varieties such as the Sugraone and later continues with the Ivory, Timpson, Sweet Globe and Autumn Crisp. When it comes to red grapes, they start with the Itum15 and Tawny and later continue with the Crimson, Timco, Allison or Scarlotta. As for black varieties, they start in late June with the Midnight Beauty, which is followed by the Sable, Melody and Adora. They are also working hard in the specialty line, in the Candy grapes range. They are starting with those now, in mid-June, and will continue for three months.
Spanish grapes will face more competition in the white variety market and bigger gaps in the red one, according to the company's head of sales. "There are fewer and fewer market gaps. When it comes to white grapes, we compete directly with Egypt and Morocco at the start, but a part of our clients prefers to get Spanish fruit as soon as we have it. As for red varieties, there are more gaps and a higher demand."
Grupo el Ciruelo owns 3,200 hectares distributed between Murcia, Almería, Alicante and Albacete, with a production capacity of 45,000 tons of seedless table grapes
Last year, the Vietnamese and Chinese markets finally opened to Spanish table grapes. "Now that we have access to these new markets, we'd like to continue exploring, but we cannot forget that they have demanding protocols and that they are very far away. We already had some small-scale good experiences last year and the idea is to continue growing little by little every year."
"The world is very big, but our main market is still Europe, even though we continue to grow in South Africa and Asia. Within Europe, there are markets where the consumption of seedless grapes is growing rapidly, such as our own country, France or Portugal," says Cristina Gutiérrez.
"Facing the late part of the campaign, in which the weather plays a key role, is always challenging for us. We are increasingly better prepared at an agricultural level with the use of plastic mulches, etc., but it is always a challenge. We'll also have to wait and see the extent to which the new situation created by COVID-19 affects us," said the head of sales at El Ciruelo.