Several British retailers and wholesalers have begun sourcing oranges from South Africa and South America earlier than usual, following last month’s devastating floods in eastern Spain which left local farmers struggling to harvest and transport their produce.
Companies in the UK have turned to sourcing fruit from the southern hemisphere weeks ahead of schedule to prevent shortages on supermarket shelves and due to concerns over the quality of Spanish produce.
Persimmons—also known as sharon or kaki fruit—have been even more severely affected by the flooding than oranges, as they are more delicate than citrus, according to analysts and industry insiders.
The Valencian branch of Asaja, Spain’s largest farming association, has estimated that the floods have caused more than €1 billion in losses to the region's agricultural sector.
“The damage is catastrophic in terms of output, cultivated fields, agrarian infrastructure, agricultural machinery and vehicles, livestock farms and nurseries – and in terms of the lands lost as entire fields have disappeared,” Asaja said.
Exports have also been hindered by damaged motorways and rural roads, as well as a recent blockade by French farmers protesting against the signing of a trade agreement between the EU and Mercosur. However, Fepex, the Spanish federation of associations of producers and exporters of fruits, vegetables, flowers and live plants, said exports via France had now resumed.
One agricultural source said it was still too early to gauge the full extent of the damage: “The streets are being cleaned up but the fields are always the last thing that gets cleaned up,” they said. “We’re talking about a lot of rural roads and there just aren’t the resources.”
The source added: “We’re in full picking season here and we were already expecting the harvest to be a bit lower, so when you add in [the floods], quite a lot of citrus has been lost. We’re right in the persimmon season now and that’s what’s been most affected.”
One major UK retailer reported that it had been forced to purchase oranges from South Africa due to difficulties in sourcing citrus from Spain, citing hold-ups on affected roads and in warehouses, as well as damage to the crops.
Jason Glass, managing director of wholesaler All Greens at London’s New Covent Garden market, said that the wholesale price of oranges initially rose by over 30% following the floods, due to supply interruptions, although prices have since eased as competition from the southern hemisphere has increased.
Glass also noted that challenges for UK buyers have been compounded by additional checks resulting from Brexit, which have already raised costs and extended delivery times.
Cindy van Rijswick, global strategist for the fruit, vegetables, and floriculture sectors at Rabobank, said the industry had been expecting orange supplies to be below the four-year average but better than last year’s levels, while easy peeler prices had already been high in anticipation of a poor season.
“It is not clear yet how much additional pressure the floods will have on supplies,” she said.
Not all farms in Spain have experienced the same level of disruption, however. A large retailer stated it had “no major issues” with supply, as the location of its farmers meant their crops experienced only minimal impact, with citrus being grown well beyond the Valencia region.
One citrus industry source told the Guardian that the main issue remains logistical—getting the fruit off the trees, packed, and loaded onto lorries for shipment to the UK and other parts of Europe. They noted that citrus crops, in general, had withstood the rains and flooding in Valencia and surrounding areas.
“Even in the parts of Valencia that were hit hardest by the floods, people are getting in and seeing there’s quite a lot of fruit that can still be saved,” the source said.
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