The Spanish peach season is certainly at a very advanced stage, since it kicked off in the earliest areas last April, and in the coming weeks it will continue with the start of the harvest of one of the most renowned late yellow peach varieties: the PDO Melocotón de Calanda.
"The season started for us in this area on the 20th June, with the earliest varieties not covered by the Protected Designation of Origin. This year, the weather has been good to us, and we haven't suffered the impact of any frosts or hail," says Antonio Cerdán, from La Calandina. "Due to the lack of rain and the restrictions on irrigation, the sizes of the fruit we have been harvesting, and of that which is coming under the PDO, are a little smaller than in other years, but this has also meant that the fruit has higher Brix degrees. In fact, the earliest varieties already had Brix levels ranging between 14 and 16 degrees."
"The demand has also been quite good so far. At the moment, we are unable to keep up with the demand from our clients. There hasn't been as much production in the first half of August, but this has had a very positive effect on prices and will make up for the impact of the smaller sizes that growers are obtaining, because it is a fact that fruit prices depend a lot on sizes," says Antonio.
"We also have very good prospects for the PDO Melocotón de Calanda season, for which we are expecting a very good amount of kilos, in line with the PDO's potential."
The Calanda peach belongs to the Amarillo Tardío variety, native to the production area (and even mentioned in medieval texts), which was obtained over the centuries by the growers themselves, who selected those peach trees that were best suited to the area's soil and weather conditions. The peach is also known for being the only one grown in bags, a traditional technique used to prevent attacks by Ceratitis capitata when there were no chemical means to do so, and which has continued to be implemented to produce a peach with a differentiated quality.
"The Calanda peach has another great advantage, which is that the season can be extended until the end of October/beginning of November. It is thus the latest peach of the Spanish season. In marketing terms, this fruit has undoubtedly become a great asset for producers in the area."
For more information:
La Calandina
Avda. Autonomía Aragonesa, n.º 80 44570 Calanda
Teruel. Spain
Tel.: +34 978 846 278
[email protected]
https://lacalandina.com