The price of red long peppers, also known as Lamuyo, exceeds 2.34 euros per kilo in Almeria's auctions as a result of shortage in the market.
The red peppers now available in Almeria do not yet meet the necessary quality for marketing. The current harvest mostly suffers the impact of the bad setting in July and early August, caused mainly by heat waves, since Lamuyo peppers are more sensitive to high temperatures during the setting stage.
Almeria is now one of the few long pepper producing areas in Spain, since there are hardly any red long peppers in the Region of Murcia, where the latest harvests have also been marked by low quality.
Quality is expected to improve in the coming weeks and this will help prices stabilise. At the moment, long green peppers, which are not as demanded as the red, cost between 0.90 and 1.00 euro per kilo.
Long peppers are intended for both the domestic market and for export, mainly to Italy and France.
Bell peppers
Right now, the market for short peppers (or bell peppers) is having a quiet moment. In just two weeks, Central European stocks, mainly from the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany, are expected to run out. Supermarket chains and wholesale markets are switching from local to Spanish peppers. Israel will not start exporting until November.
The auction price of red bell peppers is good, ranging between 1.35 and 1.45 euros per kilo. Green bell peppers stand at around 0.70 euros per kilo, while the price of the yellow has dropped by more than 50 cents in one week, from 1.40 to 0.88 euros per kilo.