GAMBÍN faces the start of a new citrus campaign. Yet another one for Pepe Gambín, general director of the company. Using his experience combined with his sense of business and intuition, he analyses what the key factors to this season will be, both for the company he runs and for the market in general.

How is the citrus campaign 2019 - 2020 being prepared at GAMBÍN? 

We study the production capacity in Spain and compare it with the capacity of previous years, this in order to forecast this season. We start planning during summer, when in receipt of the various reports provided by associations and public organisations. With this information and our own experience, we carry out the necessary arrangements and fix the objectives for the present campaign. 

In what state is the GAMBÍN citrus production this campaign?

Fortunately, and thanks to everyone’s efforts, we can ensure one again an extraordinary quality on all our agricultural productions. Our team has done a magnificent job on our plantations over the last year, and as a result we can now start collecting citrus of exceptional quality. 

What about your partners in production? Have you had the chance to visit their farms? 

Our partners have been selected over many years, during which we have developed a thorough relationship with them. This, not only on a professional basis, but also on a personal one. I can assure you that they are in excellent shape. Their crops and production are really more than adequate, even to our most demanding quality standards. All of this is the result of their extraordinary professionalism and their involvement within the GAMBÍN business model. 

How has GAMBÍN organized its business plan by country and client for this campaign? What will be the product strategy? 

Our commercial portfolio is very loyal thanks to the work of the GAMBÍN commercial team, but also thanks to the confidence that our customers have placed in our way of understanding this business and the passion with which they defend our products. Our customers are much more than clients; they are travel companions. For this reason, we will put once again emphasis on a brand strategy and total orientation towards them, as always. This is the best strategy we can carry out: to remain devoted to our “zero nonconformities” focus. This is something we can only achieve with perfect teamwork, which allows us to serve our product with an exquisite quality and service rating. 

After the very irregular campaign of last year, how do you plan 2019/2020? 

Talking about the future in perishables is very risky. We depend on the weather and it is difficult to foretell. If the first predictions are met, and the volume of citrus production returns to a normal level, - we all remember that last year we were faced with a surplus in fruit production - we will be able to carry out a more stable campaign for the entire value chain: from farmer to final consumer. I believe that normal production levels we could be witnessing a less collapsed market and therefore prices should be more reasonable for all. This situation will allow a fair nett return for the growers and will permit consumers to enjoy quality products.

In terms of general quality, what is the GAMBÍN forecast?

In the perishable sector, the balance between supply and demand is an essential issue for quality to be optimized. If this year balance is reached, we should be enjoying a perfect fruit quality. Even more so when you consider that the drought that affected us in previous years has not been extremely aggressive and water resources have improved. This means we can state that the quality of citrus will reach very adequate levels.

What role will competitors from emerging countries play this campaign? 

For Spanish exporters, emerging countries are a nuisance. Competing with them in pricing is impossible, so we have to stay creative and compete in terms of quality and service. We therefore must add value to our fruit in order to contend with all emerging countries. 

What will be the product and reference brand of GAMBÍN on the market during this campaign?

We are citrus producers: lemon, orange and tangerine and our aim is to serve all three products to our customers in a balanced way, as usual. And we will be doing so of course with our emblematic GAMBÍN brand.