Off the back of strong cherry sales and a rare instance of price inflation, the stonefruit category has grown by 8.4 per cent in value over the last year.
Volume sales also grew by a healthy 6.3 per cent in the 52 weeks to 22 May 2016, according to Kantar data, driven primarily by shopper frequency and price inflation of almost two per cent.
But despite such optimistic figures, the stonefruit industry has faced several challenges in recent months, as poor weather crippled much of the Spanish season, and a cool British spring initially put the brakes on the homegrown crop.
Rupert Maude, managing director of Spanish stonefruit and grape grower-exporter El Ciruelo, explains: “It’s been the most difficult year in 12 years. We had an early season, with lots of volume at the beginning and a few quality and commercial challenges, and then a shortage. There was a frost in some growing regions in March that knocked out production for the May harvest in Murcia. Prices were higher than expected, which caused issues with retailer price programmes.”
Kent cherry grower Oliver Doubleday, of GH Dean, is similarly cautious about the British season’s outlook: “The prospects for this season’s crop are slightly disappointing, but not catastrophic,” he says. “We had fairly challenging conditions around pollination, which we believe was worse in parts of continental Europe. During the flowering period we need warm weather for bees, but it was cold and miserable.
“Pollination conditions weren’t great, and then we had to live with the last two weeks of bad weather. Hopefully if we get some good weather, what we’ve got left will be a decent crop. Yields will be down on last year, but in common with others we also have some young orchards coming into production. The stonefruit industry is buoyant at the moment,” he adds.
Among stonefruit subcategories, flat peaches are still riding the crest of a wave, with nectarines and cherries also performing well. Marcos Martinez, director of UK-based importer Harvest Direct, says: “Nectarine is the queen – it’s a product that is always wanted. Peach is catching up as growers have reduced crops in peach after bad prices for last season, so there is a natural balance in supply and demand at present.
“Flat peach is always a good product to be involved with, although oversupply is a problem, while red plum is a must. The UK is not a country for apricot – we consume very little in comparison with the continent and Mediterranean countries who are in love with this fruit.
“And of course cherry is always a good seller – last year Spanish quality was really good and we expect a good season for 2016, too.”
Maude says El Ciruelo is also seeing “massive growth” in flat peach, and adds: “Nectarines are seeing a year-on-year growth, peaches are okay – plums aren’t great in mid summer. Apricots have huge potential but they’re quite challenging to grow,” he says.
On the Spanish season, Martinez notes that growing conditions have been challenging – in Huelva, he says rain ruined the crops, while Murcia is very short on peach volumes, and nectarines are about to finish. The company is about to move onto supply from northern Spain.
The UK cherry season should kick off in about two weeks, according to Doubleday, while French cherries are expected to be “extremely rare this year”, due to recent floods decimating many crops in the Yvelines region, according to a statement from the île-de-France chamber of agriculture.
According to Garth Swinburn, vice president for licensing at stonefruit and grape breeder Sun World, consumers have been disappointed with stonefruit purchases in recent years, due to inconsistent quality. “One issue is genetics – breeding companies want a return on their investment, so they push forward with a variety even if it isn’t the best one available. The result is there are a lot of varieties floating around,” he says. “At Sun World we’re keen to develop the plum category as we feel it’s been overshadowed by plum and nectarine development in recent years. We’d like to see plums shake off the image of the poor cousin of peaches and nectarines, and get consumers to really connect with them.”
GH Dean, meanwhile, has spotted room for stonefruit growth in the UK’s wholesale markets. Doubleday says: “Over the last few years we have developed a high-quality brand for the wholesale sector. As far as cherries are concerned, there is strong demand among high-end outlets such as hotels and independent retailers. By giving them an excellent product, we are recreating an awareness of our Blackbird brand cherries.”
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