Citrus Fruit Suppliers
Sourcing of citrus peel and the citrus industry
Citrus peel quality and supply
Over the past month, Tommy has been back and forth to Spain to see his citrus processors in Murcia. The quality looks good this year but with ongoing questions on the continuity of supply.
Sourcing quantities of citrus peel
The sourcing of citrus fruit has become more problematic in recent years due to an uplift in demand from industries outside gin distilling and a decline in the numbers of processors willing to do the hand peeling. Tommy and Michael continue to buy large quantities from Spain, but have shifted a significant part of their sourcing to Egypt.
Small scale farmers and the citrus industry
Historically, we have purchased from small scale farmers and the rejects/ unwanted product from the industrial juicers. Nowadays, farms are bigger and do not consider smaller scale sales. Coupled with this the citrus industry have found ways of using all the product (pectin, essential oils) meaning there are very few rejects.
Citrus peeling, a labour intensive process
In addition, the peeling of citrus peels in the Murcia region was essentially done by the older/retired generation who would peel in their spare time and sell to our collectors.
Unfortunately, as time has moved on this generation has passed away and the younger generation are no longer interested. Encouraging the incredibly labour intensive process is difficult and is/will be a constant challenge for Beacon Commodities
