Los Gallombares has planted green asparagus in Huelva for the first time this season

“We are now starting with Mexican asparagus, leaving behind a challenging Peruvian season, while the Spanish harvest has been delayed by the cold”

Granada’s green asparagus season will start later this year due to the impact of the low temperatures this winter. In the meantime, some operators are already starting to switch from Peru, which has had a very difficult season, to Mexico, whose product is currently fetching very high prices.

“Here in Granada, the first asparagus of the season usually arrives at the end of January, but this month has been colder than usual, with night temperatures falling to between -3 and -4 degrees Celsius. With such temperatures, asparagus growth slows down,” says Francisco Delgado, manager of the cooperative Los Gallombares, Europe’s leading green asparagus producer and operator.

“Another cold front is expected next week, so it is clear that this year, the harvest will start at least 10 days late,” he says.

Meanwhile, the cooperative has already started selling the first green asparagus from Mexico, leaving behind a really challenging Peruvian season due to logistical difficulties.

“In our opinion, the volume and quality of Peruvian asparagus are starting to drop due to the high temperatures at the source. The truth is that, since we started in October, the Peruvian season has been quite disastrous due to logistical problems, with delays of more than three days in shipments and disruptions in the cold chain,” says Francisco Delgado.

“We hope to recover with the Mexican asparagus season, which has just started and whose production won’t be abundant for another ten days, given the cold weather recorded so far in the main producing areas,” says the cooperative’s manager.

At the moment, there is still some supply of Peruvian asparagus in the markets and some chains prefer to continue working with it. According to Francisco Delgado, “Although there is still consumption, demand is lagging due to the high prices of the product, something that will change as soon as the Spanish supply grows ahead of spring, when there also tends to be more demand in Europe.”

Los Gallombares, which has around 2,200 hectares of asparagus crops, is once again expanding its acreage for this season, adding around 180 new hectares, a third of which has been planted for the first time in the province of Huelva. “Although green asparagus from Granada will remain our flagship product because of its quality, we are trying to bring the start of Huelva’s season forward as far as possible because its microclimate, with milder nights, allows this.”

Los Gallombares will be exhibiting again at Fruit Logistica in Berlin from February 5 to 7. They’ll welcome visitors at stand B-23 in Hall 18.

For more information:
Francisco Delgado
Los Gallombares S.C.A.
Ctra. de Priego, s/n
Ventorros de San José Loja. Granada, Spain.
Tel.: +34 958315195
esp@losgallombares.es
www.losgallombares.es