This summer’s high temperatures are making it difficult to get the pear and apple season off to a good start in Spain. Meanwhile, for stone fruit, that same heat has helped boost consumption in the export markets during most of the season.

“We’ve been harvesting pears for about two weeks now, but fruit sizes are generally small due to the impact of the abnormally high temperatures this summer, which have also led to increased psylla pressure and, as a result, more skin blemishing on the pears,” says José Casas, of Frutas Ponti.

The company, based in the Bajo Cinca district of the province of Huesca, in the region of Aragón, bordering the province of Lleida, has already harvested its first Limonera pears and is currently also picking Williams, Bartlett, and Conference.

“On the commercial side, we’re having a very difficult start because there are still large volumes of Argentinian and South African pears available in both European markets and in the South American countries we export to,” says José.

“In other years, we started exporting right from the beginning, but this year we’re putting pears into cold storage because the demand is notably weak. There is only interest in larger sizes, 70 mm and up, and those account for only around 10% of our current production,” he says. “We’re hoping for good pear consumption in the fall and winter.”

On the apple side, the heat is also having a negative agronomic impact. “The first Gala apples don’t have enough color for export,” says the grower and exporter. “We’re hoping this will improve as the harvest progresses, and with the other varieties, too.”

Stone fruit consumption, meanwhile, has benefited from the hot summer. Frutas Ponti started its season in May and expects to finish in mid-September. “We’ve had a great campaign so far, even though sizes have generally been on the smaller side. Prices haven’t been as high as last year, but they’ve been acceptable and, above all, the demand has been strong,” says José.

“With the arrival of August, consumption has eased slightly, coinciding, as usual, with the holiday period. That said, we’re hoping September will stay warm enough to get the demand moving again,” says José. “It’s worth noting that this year we’ve also seen stronger competition from Turkish and Greek fruit in Eastern European countries, where local production also appears to be growing, particularly plums, apricots, and cherries.”

This third-generation family business produces and exports around 25 million kilos of stone fruit and approximately 10 million kilos of pome fruit to various countries across Europe, as well as overseas, particularly to South America.

Frutas Ponti will once again exhibit at the international trade fair Fruit Attraction in Madrid, from October 6 to 8, at stand 7B14A in Hall 7, which is where Aragón-based companies will be located.

For more information:
Frutas Ponti
C/ Fraga 100
22528 Velilla de Cinca, Spain
Tel.: +34 974 461 511
[email protected]
www.frutasponti.com