Satsumas down 20%; clementine crop 9% lighter; oranges unchanged Improving easy peelers on course for Christmas With the peak Christmas selling period only a fortnight away, Spanish easy peeler quality has improved dramatically since the start of the season when wet warm weather led to puffiness both in satsumas and clementines. Cooler nights, however, are leading to an improvement and better colour, so degreening is now virtually finished. Satsumas, the earliest sub- variety, are down by as much as 20% to 223,000 tonnes although the effect will be felt less as the UK is switching more and more to clementines. There are, however, some concerns that the clementine crop, which is only 9% lighter at around 1.1 million tonnes, may still lead to the season finishing earlier in March/ April. Finas, Tardias and Fortune show some of the greatest reductions although the bulk of production, the Nules variety, has come through the summer better. Oranges are virtually unchanged at 1.6 million tonnes and the quality of Navelinas being harvested is excellent with fruit size being marginally higher. The industry will again benefit from a £6m two-part European generic campaign run by Intercitrus in selected countries. Oranges are now being targeted in the UK using TV through February. {{FRESH PRODUCE }}

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