The watermelon harvest already finished in the greenhouses of Almeria, and since early June, the season has continued in the north of the province, in the Region of Murcia and also in the Region of Valencia. For now, yields are lower than expected due to the predominance of small sizes. The arrival of warm weather across Europe and international sporting events this summer are expected to boost demand.
"Initially, we were expecting the production to amount to around 145,000 tons, but this figure will probably be somewhat reduced in the end because yields per square meter are lower than we expected due to the shortage of large sizes," says Ángel Cebriá, head of watermelon sales at Anecoop.
Greenhouse watermelons have reached high prices. "We had an early start this year and mild temperatures in spring, which resulted in a good plant development and quality, despite the smaller sizes. Temperatures have not been high enough at destination, but there has still been enough demand to absorb the available supply and keep prices at good levels," says Cebriá.
Prices have been falling as the production from other areas has entered the market, because the heat has been slow in coming and the demand hasn't been buoyant. Nonetheless, the Anecoop sales representative is confident that "the onset of summer and events such as the European Football Championship and later the Olympics will help boost watermelon purchases."
Germany and Spain are the main destinations for Anecoop's Bouquet seedless watermelons, followed by France and the Czech Republic in a list of more than 20 countries.
According to Ángel Cebriá, Spanish watermelons are facing various challenges, such as the falling consumption in recent years, the growing overlap with the Southern Hemisphere, increased competition from third countries and the already announced change in the regulations for the sale of fresh cut fruit in Spain.
"The two past seasons have been atypical due to the impact of the weather. There has been a shortage of fruit and prices have therefore been higher for consumers, who are already bearing the brunt of inflation. This has taken a toll on watermelon consumption, but we are sure that we will recover if we continue developing varieties with better taste qualities, and if costs allow us to keep prices at an affordable level for consumers," says Ángel Cebriá.
"However, we are also facing an increasing overlap with the productions from the Southern Hemisphere in the European markets. It's the case of Brazil, which this year may start as early as August. Senegal is also extending its campaign and is increasingly present in April, both in the national and international markets," says Cebriá.
"In the Mediterranean, and overlapping with us, Morocco has its niche with Dumara type long watermelons, but we cannot lose sight of Turkey, which is focusing more and more on exporting to Europe. A few years ago, we didn't perceive Turkish watermelons as competition for us, but this year we are already noticing their presence and their large production capacity," says Anecoop's watermelon sales manager.
Lastly, a new regulation is going to be implemented in Spain that will require supermarket chains and food shops to have an approved area to cut the fruit into halves and quarters for its sale.
"Both large-scale retail shops and traditional markets sell melon and watermelon cut into halves and quarters. The pieces are wrapped in film and displayed on the shelves, and they are frequently replaced. This allows consumers to buy smaller and cheaper pieces and facilitates consumption by smaller family units. With this new regulation, which will most likely entail higher costs for the stores, there could be an impact on melon and watermelon marketing and changes in consumption habits. There may be a growing preference for medium-sized and mini watermelons, for which we need greater varietal development," says Ángel Cebriá.
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