Sandia Fashion new

AGF Group expects sales of its Sandía Fashion seedless watermelons should reach 70,000 tonnes in 2015, a 2-3 per cent increase on last year’s total. Announcing the launch of the new season, the group said harvesting had got underway this week in Almería with shipments expected to run through to September.

The group also announced that it is to relaunch its research and development department in order to maintain its leadership position in the seedless watermelon sector through innovation in areas such as health and exports.

The Sandía Fashion label covers around 1,700ha of open air and greenhouse production in southern Spain.

Around 40 per cent of sales are to overseas markets, with Germany, France and other northern European countries among the main destinations.

Since the label was launched 17 years ago sales have grown steadily and today AGF is the biggest marketer of seedless watermelons in Europe. It is made up of 17 producers from throughout Spain.