"Overall, the winter cucumber campaign has been good," says Antonio Escobar, manager of the Almeria-based Nature Choice SAT. "We have been able to successfully meet the demand of all our European customers. At the company, we work with great respect for the product at every step, from production to handling and shipping. Thanks to this, as well as to all the controls we carry out, we have been able to deliver more kilos of cucumbers of the highest quality to the market compared to last year, although we don't have exact figures yet."
"We have truly experienced a strange season in terms of weather conditions and rising costs for all supply items, but thanks to the experience of the producers and the advice provided by the technical department of Nature Choice, we have managed to round off a completely satisfactory cucumber season, despite the high pressure from aphid pests we've had to deal with. As for the profitability of the farms, it can vary quite a lot depending on each case, but in general terms, the average price has been higher than in previous seasons, so profitability has been guaranteed."
In fact, according to Antonio Escobar, these price levels have continued until the end of the campaign, "which has been different compared to the end of previous campaigns because the Netherlands started harvesting its first productions when our campaign was practically finished." In week 19 (the last week for which there is data published by the Prices and Markets Observatory of the Andalusian Government), the price of cucumbers rose by 68% compared to the previous week, while in the case of Spanish cucumbers, the increase stood at a remarkable 99%.
As has been the case for other vegetables, but especially for cucumbers, the supply has been under pressure this winter following the shutdown of part of the Central European greenhouses. "The situation started to tighten up at the end of last year, when supply costs shot up, especially energy costs, which made Dutch greenhouses unable to cope. From then on, European distributors tried to guarantee the supply to their clients, sparking a notable revival of cucumber production in Almeria's greenhouses. Cucumber production in Almeria, and also in our case, has been the highest in recent years, and the existing demand has been satisfied with our production."
As a company, Nature Choice is in the middle of a growth and transformation process. It has gone from marketing 37 million kilos to 100 million in two campaigns (21/22). "This has been possible because we now have the capacity to offer our products to the entire continent all year round. We are currently still growing, and the company's objective is to do so in a rational and sustainable way in order to be able to satisfy the demand from its European customers. To this end, we are making large investments in the modernization of machinery and facilities, as well as in human resources."
"Traditionally, Nature Choice's main destinations have been the Scandinavian countries; however, in recent years, marketing in countries such as France or Germany has also become a very important part of our operations."
For more information:
Nature Choice SAT
Carretera de Almerimar, 24
04700 El Ejido, Almeria, Spain
Tel.: +34 950 607 777
https://naturechoice-sat.com