"At the moment, we are starting to harvest the white Autumn Crisp grapes. As far as red varieties are concerned, we are working with the Sweet Celebration, Crimson, Allison and Timco, and when it comes to black grapes, we are harvesting the Autumn Royal, Melody, Sweet Sapphire and Sable," says the head of sales and marketing.
This year, Grupo el Ciruelo is producing organic table grapes under the BIO Ciruelo brand for the first time. "This is our first harvest of organic table grapes. Volumes are still limited this year, but we expect to have a significant production next year. Also, our very special Candy-type varieties (caramel flavour), with high Brix levels, have recorded growth and are doing very well in the markets. These varieties all fall under one brand of our own creation, called Moments by El Ciruelo".
Although the start of the harvest has been delayed a little in some areas of Murcia, El Ciruelo has kicked off at the usual time and with the usual yields per hectare. "We keep our productions under strict control. Every year, we sacrifice part of the harvest in order to regulate the production volumes in the field. This way, huge natural oscillations in the production are prevented. Moreover, the farms are protected with anti-hail nets and plastics to prevent possible damages caused by rainfall," says Cristina.
The start of the campaign has been really good this year, according to Cristina Gutiérrez, as "India finished earlier and Egypt started earlier to take advantage of the gap left by India, finishing the campaign before the usual time due to heat waves. At the same time, Morocco suffered some quality issues, so the markets were hungry for good grapes when we arrived."
The Murcian company highlights the increase in the demand for seedless grapes in Spain, which has traditionally always consumed grapes with seeds. "We are observing a rise in the consumption of seedless grapes in Spain and southern Europe, and it is not a passing fad; it is here to stay and the trend will continue. All distribution chains already have seedless grapes on their shelves, but there is still much to be done if we compare the situation with that of other countries in northern Europe. We are only taking the first steps, but we will see something similar to what happened with seedless watermelons. Who buys watermelons with seeds now?"
El Ciruelo has a strong exporting identity, shipping its grapes mostly to the European markets. It has also established itself in markets such as South Africa, where it has been exporting for more than 20 years and which has become the third most important destination outside of Europe. In the most recent campaigns, the company has been devoting more resources to reaching and consolidating in the Asian markets.
