Lack of post-harvest treatments. Risks.

As we mentioned in our article "The Shelf Life of Our Citrus," at Naranjas de Cullera, we do not interfere with the shelf life of the fruit once it is harvested. We do not de-green it, add fungicides or other preservatives, nor do we apply waxes. While this may sound great because consumers can enjoy more natural and better-tasting oranges and mandarins, it comes with commercial risks and can sometimes give us a lot of headaches.

First and foremost, it's worth noting that our regular customers are very satisfied, as can be seen in our Google reviews, where more than 250 reviews give us an average rating of 4.9 in such a challenging business as ours.

We have been selling untreated citrus for over a decade. Overall, we are very happy with our work. We have learned a lot and continue to learn. Our customers are usually delighted with the flavor of our oranges and the service we provide, but we have also had disappointments. Some orchards (only a few compared to the total number of orchards we sell) have produced oranges with very low shelf life. This is due to uncontrollable and imperceptible factors in the fruit at the time of harvesting and packaging. It is unacceptable for a purchase of 10, 15, or 20 kilos. This gives us a lot of headaches because some customers may receive rotten fruit or it may not last as long as expected after delivery. We take responsibility for these losses when our customers notify us; we don't like it to happen, but it's the only thing we can do.

The start of autumn 2022 was atypical in our region. We experienced much higher temperatures than usual, which exacerbated this problem, especially with early mandarins: Orogròs and Oronules. The harvest was scarce and of lower quality, with mandarins that were less juicy and had shorter shelf life. This scarcity considerably increased their price, reaching up to €14/kg in European markets. In short, a tough autumn for mandarins.

As we move further into winter, the drop in temperatures and the greater resilience of mandarin varieties (especially the Clemenvilla variety) make the problem disappear.

Traditional trade avoids these shelf life problems with fungicides and other preservatives that prevent the proliferation of fungi and bacteria that cause decay.

We will continue in our own way. We believe it is worth taking this risk in a low percentage of cases to offer more natural and better-tasting oranges and mandarins. We only hope for understanding from our customers and encourage them to communicate any issues so that we can provide solutions and they don't have to bear the risk.