Since 2002, the European stonefruit sector has suffered a string of poor or barely satisfactory seasons. And last year was no different, with wide-spread frosts across the continent, wreaking significant havoc in some areas. Despite delays of up to a fortnight for some items, and fears of physiological defects, overall volumes were only marginally compromised and the fruit quality was acceptable. Prices, however, were far from gratifying. The peach and nectarine season got underway in mid-May but volumes only trickled through for several weeks; prices fell to the levels achieved in 2002, and remained so until the end of the campaign. Apricots, suffered similarly, with strong volumes failing to yield satisfactory returns.
The general consensus at last week’s Europech’ conference was that 2006 would be fairly unremarkable, with slight increases and decreases balancing out volumes across the board. At close to four million tonnes, the total volume of peaches and nectarines from Europe is expected to be down by 100,000t (one per cent) on last year, but the shortfall will be felt most by clingstone peaches, with the rest remaining stable.
A delay to the flowering period, is expected to set the start of harvesting back by about a week. The season has also been marked by a long, cold winter, but the frost has been felt more significantly in eastern Europe than the west. As such, Greece has been compromised most severely, with temperatures falling as low as -18°C in Macedonia. After a fairly average 2005, Greece is expecting a five per cent decrease in peaches and nectarines this year, bringing the total to 285,600t.
Italy has long been the number one player in stonefruit, with most of the exported fruit originating from the north-easterly Emilia Romagna region. According to Gianni Miotto of the Centro Servizi Ortofrutticoli (CSO), the strong production potential is a double-edged sword because Italy’s superior volumes can leave it in an awkward position when it comes to international competition. Last year, a miscalculation in projecting volumes early on spelled considerable misfortune for exporters when the domestic market failed to absorb the extra fruit. This year, volumes have so far been pitched at 1,506,600t - down four per cent on 2005 - and the sector has been making every effort to ensure the problems of last year are not revisited.
“We have suffered from a lack of co-ordination across the different producing regions,” says Miotto. “Some regions, particularly in the south, have invested in new machinery and are organising themselves to have early varieties so they can export as early as June, while some Sicilian producers have tried to have a late season.”
Meanwhile, in Emilia Romagna producers are trying to exploit the high-quality of their products by segmenting the market and adding value by exploiting their PGI status. Another success in the last couple of years has been the introduction of Made in Blu, a premium quality marked product for the high-end wholesale outlets, Miotto explains.
Spain was most noticeably hit by last year’s frosts for a whole host of items. Andalusia’s early varieties were particularly affected but volumes across the country reached optimum levels overall. The total for the season was pitched at 613,983t, compared with a previous average of 565,355t. José Antonio Plaza of the Spanish confederation of agricultural co-operatives (CCAE) is predicting a 10 per cent increase for this year, with production expected to reach 676,980t.
Spain’s stonefruit industry has been strengthening steadily since the early 1990s, noticeably benefiting from European funds, which have been spent on improving irrigation and modern techniques of production. Spanish producers have often profited from the weather-induced misfortune of other European competitors - most recently in 2003 - but even last year, which saw the most competitive offer from Spain, was disappointing in terms of returns.
According to Plaza, many stonefruit producers have consequently considered conversion but the horticultural industry as a whole does not accommodate such changes easily. As such, there has been a widespread slowing down of investment in production. This has most noticeably affected clingstone fruit, but volumes of late-season or difficult varieties are also falling.
However, despite this inertia of production, some Spanish producers are hopeful that the country’s potential could gradually increase in the coming years, particularly for nectarines in June, which are a key driver, says Plaza.
France is the smallest of the principal peach and nectarine producers, and 80 per cent of its production is diverted to the home market. The country’s potential for these products has been gradually eroding, primarily in Languedoc and the Alpes-Rhône region, spreading the major production southwards. But since last year the Roussillon region has experienced a decline as well, according to Eric Hostalnou of Roussillon’s chamber of agriculture.
This year, despite warnings of frost damage in mid-March and again in mid-April, weather conditions have been fairly favourable and France’s total production is expected to be a little more than 400,000t, around four per cent less than last year. Laurent Favel, president of BRM (the committee for economic and agricultural affairs of the Rhône Mediterranean region) says exporters are hoping for an easier ride this year.
“Competition was very difficult last year,” he claims. “We sold good volumes but economic output was not very good.”
Apricots are naturally more fragile than other stonefruit and this factor is deemed significantly responsible for the major differences in Europe’s total category production figures encountered throughout the years. Overall volumes of apricots have been rising in the last few years, however, measuring 540,000t in 2004, 570,000t last year and this year’s total is pitched at 590,000t - the strongest level of production since 1999.
Last year, Italy enjoyed high volumes, while Greece and Spain suffered a shortage of fruit. This year, France and Italy are reporting declines, in contrast to Greece and Spain, which predict volumes approaching their optimum potential.
Greece has been characterised by stark oscillations between weak and strong campaigns, and after a total of 45,000t last year, production is expected to reach 70,000t this season.
Conversely, Italy reported record volumes of 230,000t last year, while this year, even with ideal conditions, volumes are expected to be more in line with the recent average, at 210,000t.
Spain’s primary growing region for apricots, Murcia, has suffered extreme climatic set-backs for more than 10 years and the quoted potential of 100,000t has been more pipe dream than reality. This year, however, the sector is happily reporting an expectation of 136,000t, which is a 21 per cent rise on last year and 24 per cent up on the 2000-2004 average.
The 2005 season for France was marked by strong volumes in the Languedoc-Roussillon and Provence regions, with average results in the Rhone-Alpes, but the season was disappointing overall. “The fluidity of the market was not bad, but prices were not good enough,” says Daniel Obadia, president of the French apricots committee. “This year, we will have smaller volumes at the start of the campaign, with bigger sizes than the supply of South Tyrolean varieties.” According to Obadia, France has invested heavily in apricot production in recent years, as a means to diversify away from its concentration on peach and nectarine. Orangered and Bergeron are the most important varieties, grown in the Gard and Rhône Valleys, respectively, although, this year, as often happens, the Orangered crop is showing signs of weakness.
France’s production is expected to average out at 175,000t for the 2006 season - three per cent down on last year. As is often the case, unfavourable flowering conditions have affected pollinisation, penalising auto-sterile varieties in particular, but good quality fruit is expected across the board.
Obadia says hopes for a successful future in apricots lie in the arrival of a series of new varieties, which he claims have the potential to “revolutionise the late apricot market”. Until these reach commercial volumes, France will continue to benefit from its Bergeron production, which is the only apricot variety available to the European market after mid-July.
EXPANSION IN THE RéART VALLéE
Having established itself as a leader in stonefruit on the domestic front, Réart Vallée is looking to forge stronger ties with foreign markets and introduce new products. The largest single fruit producer in southern France, Réart Vallée produces and packs peaches and nectarines from three sites in the Roussillon region, with hopes to enter the market with sizeable volumes of cherries as well in the near future.
The family business emerged 50 years ago and since then has expanded its production from six hectares to 300ha.
Having production spread across a vast area allows the company to produce a large range of varieties and maximise its window for harvesting from mid-May to mid-September. Réart Vallée is part of a producer group, which together generates some 14,000 tonnes of fruit a year.
The company’s product list includes 28 yellow peaches accounting for 20 per cent of total volumes, 23 white peaches (20 per cent), 27 yellow nectarines (30 per cent) and 24 white nectarines (30 per cent).
Managing director and producer, Patrice Bolfa, says the company has now set itself up to make a bigger impact in the global fruit business.
“We have invested a lot of money in the last few years,” says Bolfa. “There is a huge demand for stonefruit and we didn’t have enough produce to satisfy that demand.”
A major part of the investment has been spent on packing facilities and refrigerated storage, which covers 2,850m2.
Bolfa says: “Our priority for the future is to be more innovative with our packing possibilities and be flexible to the different needs of our customers. We are looking to diversify and enter with new products, since customers are increasingly more interested in buying fruit already in punnets.”
The company sends 90 per cent of production to the French markets, with the rest going to Germany, Belgium and the UK. Bolfa says he hopes to increase exported volumes and is looking east to the new European countries as a possible target.
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