Murcia's pepper campaign has been underway for two weeks, overlapping with the end of Almeria's campaign, which still has plenty of volumes, unlike last year, when they had practically finished by now.
At the moment, the volume of Murcian peppers is not very significant and the production of green peppers abounds, although the first red peppers are starting to arrive.
Prices are lower than in the same period last season. "At the moment, the average price of bell and lamuyo peppers stands at approximately 1.20 Euro per kilo, while last year at the same time it reached around 1.50 Euro per kilo," affirms Angel García Izquierdo, manager of Soltir. However, "these are acceptable prices, both for the grower and for the exporter," he adds.
According to Ángel García, the heavy rains, heat and cold waves recorded during the winter will have a negative impact on the quality of Murcian peppers, depending on the time of harvest. "There will be fewer GG peppers to market and a greater abundance of G, mostly due to the bad setting caused by the high temperatures and excess humidity. There will be sharp variations when it comes to quality this campaign; we will have moments with good quality and moments with an inferior quality."
Soltir, just like other Murcian companies in the sector, produces both Lamuyo peppers, which are mainly intended for the domestic market, and bell peppers, which are mostly exported, mainly to Germany and Eastern countries.