There have been notable successes for Portuguese produce in the last 12 months. Gala apples, for instance have fared well, as have chestnuts, and salad crops. Having escaped the worst of last summer's heatwave that proved so debilitating to much of the rest of continental Europe's fruit production, Portuguese stone fruit, and particularly plums have also made forward strides.
In contrast to this, the performance of Rocha pears has widely been reported as disappointing. “Volumes are 35 per cent down on predictions, and this has pushed up prices,” says Direct Produce Portugal's managing director, Anne Langan. “This has also affected exports which are consequently at low levels.”
A high level of rainfall in the winter affecting fruit formation is the cause of declining volumes, although some growing areas fared better than others. “Some orchards didn't produce any pears,” says Langan, “whereas others weren't affected at all. Overall production has been very erratic.”
Rocha pears are an important crop for Portuguese producers says Torres Paolo, president of the Association for Rocha Pears. “Ninety per cent of all the pears grown in Portugal are Rocha. They have unique characteristics because they are crunchy, sweet and not overly juicy. They are widely recognised as a premium product.”
Despite the advantages of taste and quality, Rocha pears are not always easy to produce. “The fruit is very good but the trees can be problematic and don't always give high yields,” says Paolo. “In terms of research this year we are driving towards having trees that produce better volumes on a more consistent basis. Quality can also be an issue. Some 30 per cent of our fruit is class II, but we want a much higher proportion of the fruit on the trees to be class I.
“Portugal is not a big country and pears only grow successfully in the western region ñ where there is a high percentage of phosphor in the soil, and morning fogs in the summer months. These conditions are ideal for the production of Rocha pears, and they don't always perform well if grown in other areas.”
Despite the disappointing performance in pears, 2003 proved to be a successful year for salad leaves. Vitacress's Portuguese crops kept the UK continually supplied throughout the summer months for the second successive year, and the company is now developing a new salad site. “We have 800 miles of cropping beds,” says production and technical director Steve Rothwell. “We have a 52-week a year operation and are now supplying Portuguese supermarkets with packed salads.
“In order to do this we commissioned a high-care facility in 2003 which was a significant investment. Part of this packs potatoes for the UK and the other part packs the salad, which since it came on stream in April last year has shown very strong initial growth.”
In addition to this, Sharp Interpack is making a bespoke, heat-sealed poly-propylene punnet for Vitacress. Sharp will be supplying 200,000 punnets for potatoes in the Portuguese marketplace.
It has also been a strong year for watercress production, Rothwell explains, and the company, having finally gained planning permission, is in the final stages of planning a new watercress site which it hopes will reduce dependency on US imports. Vitacress is also in the throes of instigating a new growing site for potatoes on the west coast of Portugal, representing a 30 per cent expansion in capacity for potatoes. “It is also better quality land that can be rotated. Our target is daily liftings of potatoes from October to May,” Rothwell explains.
Portugal has the capability to produce a wide range of produce and recently chestnuts have made their mark for DDP. “Between September and December we exported 400 tonnes to the UK,” says Langan. “There were no quality issues and the produce was very well received. Portugal is a big producer of chestnuts ñ usually they are exported to France. But now that we have started successfully exporting to the UK I hope that it is something we can expand on in later years. The quality of chestnuts has been excellent this season and sales increased significantly in the UK because customers were buying them and finding them to be so good they went back to purchase more.”
Grown in Longal in the north east of Portugal, Langan admits that chestnuts can be difficult to handle. “Because they are a seed they are always trying to grow and they have to be moved quickly,” she says. “They have a very short life and if they are left to stand, they accumulate mould.”
New crops this year for producer Camposol are radish and butternut squash. “We are aiming to generate a cash flow in the winter months,” says co-owner Peter Knight. “Spring is when it all happens so we need to even out our income.”
Camposol has 500 hectares of vegetable crops on the south-west coast. “We benefited last year because we got much less rain than in Spain, and we also have free-draining sand,” says Knight. “Other advantages are that you can start planting a lot earlier in the season. With potatoes, for example, we are able to grow them earlier than Spain and get them in as soon as the UK finishes. In spring we go for late leeks which end around June or July.”
Camposol is in its second year of producing celeriac for the German market but is sending them a product washed and pre-packed for the first time. It has also sent 1,200t of beetroot to UK processors and produces parsnips for the Spanish and Scandinavian markets, and swede for the UK and Norwegian markets. “Everything is going well,” says Knight. “We've just employed a new UK graduate on the agronomy side, and since the dry UK summer produced a lot of small swedes we may well have a larger market than normal.”
The UK market has traditionally been seen as vital for many Portuguese producers, across a number of key lines. “Portugal began exporting Rocha pears to the UK market in 1992,” says Paolo. “Primarily we targeted Rocha pears as a premium line to M&S and Sainsbury's, but we have since built up our customers to include Morrisons, Asda, the Co-op and Iceland and we are now in a period of trying to get more fruit for these markets. They are always asking us for more produce so we have to aim to provide more pears. Although they are very popular on the home market, they do have advantages for export. They are available over a long season, from August until May and they travel well. Up to 40 per cent of the crop is exported and in a normal year we would expect to export 45,000t, of which the UK would receive 35 per cent. The other export markets are Brazil, Ireland, France, Canada and Russia.”
As well as finding the right market, identifying the most beneficial times to supply is crucial for Portugal as it often finds itself in stiff competition with Spain. “Our main strength is our product season,” says Campotec's managing director, José Burnay, “and we need to improve on that in order to survive. Years ago the UK market was a very good one for us because we received good prices. Now we simply cannot produce the quality that is required at the low prices that are offered.”
The company, in addition to producing leeks, pointed cabbage and Gala apples for export, also grows tomatoes and cucumbers for the local market. “At the moment we are cropping in the greenhouses,” says Burnay. “But the demand for these products is not great.”
Pointed cabbages and leeks were both short this season for Campotec and because of difficulties with the UK market the company is increasingly looking to Germany for export potential. “Germany looks for different quality and can also offer different prices,” explains Burnay. “If we have quality problems with produce for the UK market then the prices offered are very low and that makes things very difficult for us. The multiples demand we have BRC and EurepGAP accreditation but that costs a lot of money and at the end of the day we don't get the price we need. Ultimately the mentality of the UK multiples needs to change. They should pay for the quality and the requirements that they insist on.
“Having said that,” Burnay continues, “the market for Rocha pears is an exception, but on basic lines such as cabbages and leeks it is not easy to survive.”
“Portugal has a very green image,” Knight concludes. “There are small pockets of the right kind of land and less pest and disease issues. For us, the BRC and EurepGAP certification is an advantage because it creates a distinction between those who can't and those who can, but for small producers it is expensive and can pose problems. UK supermarkets can also be problematic to work with but then, if you grow vegetables on a large scale, you do need to work with them.”
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