Spain is rich in traditional fruits and vegetables, which are highly recognized and valued at the regional level, but that can hardly be found outside their national season. "One of these vegetables is the pumpkin," says David Casanoves of Yummy Fresh. "Valencia, for example, produces peanut pumpkin, which is well known throughout the area and highly appreciated for its internal quality and sugar level. The area of Seville produces Roteña pumpkins and Murcia produces Totanera pumpkin, which is of the same type as the Marina de Chioggia pumpkin, from the Italian region of Veneto. Another outstanding example is the Carruecano pumpkin, commonly consumed in the Basque Country and enjoys wide popularity in the region."
"Yummy Fresh was already working on producing and marketing counter-season sweet onions in Peru. Then, one of our customers asked us if we could also supply pumpkins outside the national season."
"Producing pumpkins was an opportunity to rotate the fields we were using to grow onions in Peru. At that time the pumpkin market was a captive market, still to be developed; especially in the counter-season. We had the opportunity to serve an empty market from February to June with a product whose consumption was clearly booming, so in 2007 we started producing it."
"We've been supplying pumpkins in the counter-season for 17 years, specializing in the Muscat, Carruecano, Valencian Peanut, and Delica varieties."
"In recent years, the market has launched many new varieties, most of which are hybrids. At the same time, supermarkets are increasingly reducing the range of varieties they sell, gradually converging towards one, which in this case would be the Butternut variety."
"Many chains follow that product simplification line, but we know there are other models. In the United States, for example, supermarkets can sell 4 or 5 different pumpkin varieties, and, most importantly, there is an audience in this market that values and appreciates the quality of certain regional products. Simplifying everything to a single reference at the national level is just not possible."
We at Yummy Fresh supply our counter-season pumpkins to important national and international fresh and fourth-range market customers. There are even some cases in which we don't have enough stock of a variety to meet demand."
Over the past few years, the increase in pumpkin consumption, which has grown in parallel with the increase in sweet potato consumption, has been exceptional. "Consumption has grown exponentially, especially because of the fourth range, which has allowed consumption to expand at all levels, both in retail and the industry."
"Many formats and products made with pumpkin have emerged in recent years, from roasted pumpkin to innovations such as pumpkin lasagna pasta sheets. However, we are sure there are still many innovations to come and that consumption, despite having grown a lot in recent years, can still increase considerably."
For more information:
Yummy Fresh
Av. de las Cortes Valencianas, 28 – 1.ºB
46015 – Valencia – España
Tel.: +34 961 204 340
[email protected]
www.yummyfresh.es