Sweet and bitter oranges being peeled in Murcia, Spain
Tommy recently visted Spain to check the progress of the citrus harvest
Tommy recently returned from Murcia just before the Spanish Government decided to lockdown the country.
The citrus harvest is the last of the core botanicals to be processed. We know that once these peels arrive, we will have large stocks of all core botanicals in the UK.
Processing is well under way
During Tommy’s visit temperatures reached 30°C meaning conditions were perfect for the processing and drying of peels. Tommy saw lots of Sweet and Bitter Orange being peeled and dried under a canopy. With the unseasonal high temperatures, drying was being completed in 4-5 days.
Once again Tommy turned his hand to peeling and once again he was handed his P45 – another pathetic attempt. At least he is consistent!
It was amazing to see the ladies work with such skill and speed. They can each peel approximately 400-450 kilos of fresh fruit a day. That is quite a few oranges!
See the video here
Difficult times ahead
Currently the Spanish Government have closed borders to people but for the moment the borders remain open for goods. Let’s hope this continues. Beacon do carry quite large stocks of 2019 crop so have some form of protection for the moment.
Beacon hold very large stocks
At Beacon we are lucky in the fact that we have always worked from home and therefore it is business as usual for Michael and Tommy. Trips to Poland and Egypt have been cancelled and we will have to monitor this situation moving forward.
Our ‘Brexit’ planning has helped us and we hold very large stocks of all the core botanicals in the UK. We will just have to wait and see how the future pans out. The next crop will be the coriander in May (Morocco) and July/August (Eastern Europe).
Our UK Warehouse continues to run normally with transport still available so new orders/call-offs can continue as normal.
See the video here
We feel we have a wider social responsibility at Beacon being an importer of goods from around the globe and therefore we will be monitoring the situation carefully and respond appropriately. We will continue to provide updates.
For any further info please contact Tommy on 01273 844264 or email
