Good weather conditions, combined with the cultivation of early varieties with delicious flavours, have allowed the Sevillian company Royal to start now the stone fruit campaign.
"Thanks to a dry and very cold winter, an abundant and qualitative flowering and a spring with much-needed rain, we have been able to start harvesting the first yellow-fleshed peach of the Spring Night family; with an inimitable aroma and an exceptional size for its earliness", says Pascal Boutin, Royal's Managing Director.
"These factors allowed us to harvest a few days earlier, which kicks off the season and makes us a preferred choice for customers to have the first spring-summer fruit on the shelves", he adds.
As Pascal Boutin points out, "We are very excited to be the first company to bring spring to supermarkets across Europe, with fruit that exceeds consumers' organoleptic expectations. This campaign," continues Pascal Boutin, "will further strengthen Royal's leadership and prestige in the markets of Italy, France, Germany and the United Kingdom".
This year, Royal should be able to increase its production by 10 to 15%, thanks to varietal replacement and new plantings. The company will expand the Royal Silverdelices range with 2 new white-fleshed nectarine varieties and the Royal Goldendelice range with 2 new yellow-fleshed nectarine varieties.
Royal is starting a new blood nectarine segment with the first Royal Sanguine Nectarine from early May. And finally, in interspecific plums, 4 new varieties of Metis will enrich the late season offer, as well as a Pluot one for the beginning of July.
To support its growth and continue to improve its level of service to customers, Royal has strengthened the team at its French subsidiary Serfel, which serves wholesale markets, and also has its own warehouse in Perpignan.
In addition to its stone fruits, Royal is in full season with its Royal Blue Aroma blueberry and Royal Sequoia raspberry. Tanguy Debiesse, Royal's strategy director, says: "Our strategy of being the only alternative in quality and volume to overseas imported blueberries since December is working, as every year more and more supermarkets want to switch to our local blueberry".
