Despite some asparagus having already been harvested in Granada in February, it cannot be said that the season has truly started. "The rains we've had so far will generally be beneficial, but they have prevented us from truly starting. Moreover, on February 26 and 27, a frost wiped out all the asparagus that had already sprouted. I estimate we've lost about 15 days of the season and that the harvest won't really get going until mid-March," says Carlos Ortega, manager of Hortovilla. "However, the rainfall we've had will ensure that our asparagus comes with good quality, size and, especially, a good shelf life for export, which is something we lacked last year."
"Customers are already asking if we have Spanish asparagus, but we see that there is a lot of Mexican asparagus available in the European market; hence, the starting prices are already lower than last year's."
"We all highly depend on the weather. We will start later and it seems that they are having good weather and a great production right now, coinciding with our season," says Carlos. "Moreover, despite being produced 9,000 km away, air shipments reach the European market as quickly as ours do by road, so they can truly compete with Spanish asparagus."
"While we are able to compete with imports in terms of quality, as well as price, given our lower logistics costs, their production has already been in full swing for a month, or a month and a half, and they can afford price reductions, while for us, the price at the start of the season should be the highest, and this year we will be losing part of the value we hoped to obtain;" especially after two consecutive quite challenging campaigns with below average productions.
"Last year, production losses amounted to between 25 and 30%. We hope that, despite the late February frost, we won't see further drops and that we will manage to eventually recover this season."
For more information:
Hortovilla
Paraje los Llanos, s/n
18369 Villanueva MesÃa, Granada, Spain
Tel.: +34 958 44 43 47
http://www.hortovilla.com