Now that it is coming to the end of the orange campaign in the Valencian Community we can take stock of it and see some of the keys to how our star agricultural product is marketed. We will try to understand a little better the differences between the sale of oranges and mandarins through traditional shops and through the Internet.

To begin with, we have to go back to the production of the same. It is becoming more and more complicated due to the increase in costs, especially water, but also due to the (fundamental as we will see later) sanitary requirements and the control and increase in price of each and every one of the fertilizers or products necessary for cultivation.

With already several years of drought in a row e intense heatWith the drought, getting water for the orange groves is becoming more and more complicated and more expensive. For this reason, the abandonment of the fields is increasing. Despite everything, the production of oranges and mandarins has achieved very good figures keeping Spain as one of the largest producers in the world.

The traditional shops spread the rumour at the beginning of the season that there was a surplus of fruit. and that therefore, the price of the same, had to go down. Many farmers fell into the trap and sold their oranges and tangerines at prices below market even going so far as to practically give it away.

Keep in mind that if a crop is not harvested negatively affects the next one so farmers are obliged to remove the fruit from the tree, either by selling it or even throwing it on the ground.

Now that we have reached the end of the season with the last varieties of Valencias, the situation has arisen that there is a lack of oranges. Even more so when it has been restricted the entry of oranges coming from South Africa due to the appearance of a fungus. It should be borne in mind that 40% of the oranges consumed in Europe come from this African country.

Spain represents 50% of the oranges and mandarins produced in the European Union. If one of the largest exporters in the world has restricted the entry of its fruit, the demand in Europe for our citrus has increased exponentially.

Thus, the price per arroba (common unit for weighing and marketing oranges and mandarins. In the Valencian Community it is equivalent to 12.8 kilograms) has been varying since the beginning of the season, ranging from 1.7 €/@ to 3.4 €/@. The price will depend mainly on the quality of the fruit but also on the time of the season when you sell. At the moment, those who still have fruit on the tree, if the quality is good, can get a good price as demand is outstripping supply.

A new way of marketing oranges

Capitalism and globalization has made the marketing of oranges fall into a nonsense. Spain is one of the largest producers of oranges in the world and much of this is destined for export to northern European countries or Russia. A good part of the Spanish production is destined abroad while for domestic consumption it is necessary to rely on foreign markets.

The sanitary controls that citrus production in the European Union undergoes cannot be compared with that of other countries, so that while Spanish oranges and mandarins are sold abroad (the big shops get a better selling price), supermarket consumers may be buying fruit from other regions such as South Africa or South America. Fruit of lower quality and which has had to undergo chemical treatments after being harvested in order to be sold thousands of kilometres away up to 2 or 3 months after harvesting.

Faced with this particular game of the big stores to get a higher profitability using the orange and tangerine as a currency that, depending on the country in which it is exchanged, has a value or another, producers have decided to skip this game and join directly to the producer with the consumer. Whether national or international selling the fruit as natural as possible and without any kind of treatment.