The pomegranate season came recently to a close in the Spanish municipality of Elche, which accounts for 90% of Spain's total production of the local Mollar variety. In addition to Elche, in Alicante, Mollar pomegranates are also grown in the provinces of Valencia, Seville, Murcia and Badajoz.
According to Francisco Oliva, president of the Association of Producers and Distributors of Pomegranates from Elche, "the balance of the campaign could be considered satisfactory. We started with really good sales, although they ended up stagnating. In any case, we have managed to market our entire production."
Francisco explains that, unfortunately, the extreme drought conditions and high temperatures in autumn and winter have taken a toll on the quality of the fruit late in the campaign. "Given the lack of rainfall and cold hours, the skin was not as strong and the shelf life in chambers has not been as good as in previous years."
"It took us many years to open the Russian market and it became very important for us, so we are still feeling the impact of its loss," he points out. "We are compensating this by increasing shipments to other markets outside the EU, namely in the Middle East or Asia, with remarkable destinations like Singapore or Indonesia. We have to work harder to further boost exports to these markets. We believe that China can be a potential market for Spanish pomegranates."
Elche's Mollar pomegranate recently got its Protected Designation of Origin. The fruit is harvested in more than 40 municipalities and is the most representative in Spain. However, both the area of Elche and other regions are also planting new varieties, such as the ACCO, Smith and other foreign varieties, such as the Wonderful."
The fact that the pomegranate acreage in Spain is on the rise does not pose a threat to the sector, according to Francisco Oliva, who argues that "the advertising promotions and campaigns organised by our association for the past eight years have been reflected in a growing consumption in Spain, where already 30% of our pomegranates are sold. Pomegranates are no longer a rarity in Spain.
The Association of Pomegranate Producers of Elche is now in the process of creating a Regulatory Council for its PDO Granada Mollar de Elche.
"Both the production and the marketing side of the Association will start acting as Regulatory Council in less than a month, up until the first elections take place. We look forward to closely monitoring our production in the framework of the PDO and to make our pomegranates stand out even more from other varieties and origins."
