The summer is finally over and as the temperatures drop, the focus now turns to a new variety of vegetables, says Tania Silva, sales manager for Rush Farms Portugal: “The time has come to switch from summer vegetables to autumn and winter ones. Although the high temperatures that have been common until recently have slowed down the consumption of these products, which normally increases with the start of the school year across Europe, the drop in temperatures has begun to spark regular demand for pumpkins.”
Rush Farms Portugal isn't new to the pumpkin market, as they’ve had a focus on it for years, Silva explains. “It's one of the products that has been present in our offer for a few years, but approximately ten years ago it became one of our reference products and campaign stars. This has led us to be increasingly careful with the varieties selected, with the fields in which we produce, and also to improve storage methods, achieving a prolonged shelf-life.”
Although Portugal has to manage its water use, Silva states that they have sufficient experience and abide by the requirements that keep their fields in good health: “Despite the dry summer and the alarming water problem in South Europe, as this issue has been a recurring focus over the years, we've managed to find effective strategies to preserve soil and not waste water. In fact, there is an ever-present concern when managing what we do, so as not to lose our biggest asset, which are the fields and water.”
Two specific varieties of pumpkins are expected to perform well this season: “Butternut and musquée are the recurring varieties every year, and then we vary from campaign to campaign with additions of other varieties. It's easy to find our products throughout Europe. There is recognition of quality, concern in selection and sorting. This year stands out as it is a campaign with good commercial butternut calibers, and with a volume of approximately 8,000 tons to supply to the market. The musquées have their volume concentrated in calibers 5/7 and 7+, but with good quality and color, being excellent for both wholesalers and industry.”
Overall Silva is positive about the outlook on the pumpkin season: “We think it will be a great campaign, despite the slower start. It’ll be a good season not only in sales, but also in quality. The fact that buyers increasingly look to Portugal as a supplier of pumpkins, equating it with other origins, is encouraging. Previously, the fact that we were further away required a higher logistics cost, now there is a clear concern to find alternatives to other players, to avoid situations like those of the last campaign, in which in the early months of the year there was a gap in these products from other European origins,” she concludes.
Tania Silva
Rush Farms Portugal
Email: tania.silva@rushfarms.pt
www.rushgroup.co.uk