The Moroccan company Delassus is currently working on the development of new tomato varieties in different colors which are tailored to its customers. For the last two years, Delassus’ R & D department has been researching over 300 different small tomato varieties. They’ve selected 23 very promising types of small tomatoes, and plan to offer these starting this winter.
“In order to provide a good product, we need to take great care in the picking process. Bright red tomatoes are sent to the UK, while less ripe tomatoes are picked for markets that have a longer transit time, like Russia. During transit, the tomatoes will ripen to a degree that works best with the destined market,” says Sales and Marketing Director Fatiha Charrat.
Delassus CEO Kacim Bennani-Smires with Sales and Mktng. Dir. Fatiha Charrat
Another major market for Delassus is the UAE and Saudi Arabia. Charrat said that this market has more emphasis on exclusivity and high quality. Dubai consumers have a large disposable income, which means that supermarkets in this region go to extra lengths to draw attention. For Delassus, this means that produce for Dubai needs specialized packaging.
The market in general has been favorable for Moroccan companies. Russia still has an embargo on most European products. While Dutch tomatoes usually would have been a major competitor for Moroccan suppliers, the trade ban has eliminated the Netherlands as a competitor for Russia. Other potential competitors like Turkey and Egypt still haven’t quite mustered the cultivation of cherry tomatoes.
Charrat also mentioned that Delassus is starting a trial season with bell peppers, by producing very small volumes meant for the UK and Russia.
ClemenGold
According to Charrat, it has been a rather difficult season for clementines. Even though Moroccan growers have been trying to increase their volumes, every year the yield falls below expectations. This happened once again during last season, for the fifth year in row. While this doesn’t pose any problems with regards to lack of supply, it does have a negative impact on the growers’ results.
“There were also problems in Spain due to the bad weather conditions. A lot of Spanish growers have rushed their production, meaning they entered the market in January, well before their usual start in February. This put even more pressure on prices than normal. However, things will be better this month. Californian growers have had bad weather as well, which means that there is a lack of supply in the US. We could benefit from that,” explains Charrat.
Furthermore, Delassus has been busy with their new packing facilities where instead of working with one load per two hours, the process will be sped up to two loads per hour. The facilities will also implement packing machines, which allows the company to supply directly to UK and German supermarkets.
Delassus is a licensed supplier of ClemenGold clementines. ClemenGold is a brand for a selection of high quality standard Nadorcott. In order to carry the prestigious ClemenGold brand, each fruit must have a perfect balance of sugar and acid, offering the consumer a lusciously juicy and subtly fragranced citrus fruit. Only selected growers from across the world can use this brand to market their best Nadorcott. Great care is taken when picking and packing the fruit.
In order to provide a year long supply of ClemenGold, this South African company. who own the brand, has divided its production between other companies in different regions in the world through licencing agreements, Delassus being one of them. After the season in Morocco, the production of ClemenGold will commence in South Africa, then other countries and then back to Morocco.
