World Citrus Organisation gathers to discuss seasons’ situations and recovery of logistics at Fruit Attraction 2023

The World Citrus Organisation (WCO) hosted its 2023 WCO Conference and a meeting of its Global Marketing working group at Fruit Attraction 2023 in Madrid on 3rd October. During these events, WCO, as the platform for dialogue and action for the global citrus community, fostered a discussion on expectations of the sector concerning the Southern Hemisphere that is coming to an end and the expectations for the upcoming Northern Hemisphere season, as well as taking the first steps to design a marketing campaign to incentivise the consumption of citrus.

WCO brought together on 3 October, citrus sector actors from both hemispheres to discuss issues of common concern to the sector and to exchange impressions on the state of the sector in the Southern Hemisphere as its season is coming to an end as well as the expectations and first impressions that Northern Hemisphere actors have for their soon-to-commence season.

Across the room, WCO members held a frank discussion, which highlighted the challenges and opportunities the sector has faced because of the arrival of the El Niño phenomenon in the Southern Hemisphere and the likely challenges and opportunities in the Northern Hemisphere given the meteorology in the Mediterranean.

WCO also presented to its members an updated version of its forecast template and interactive dashboards, which will enable improved data-gathering and access to up-to-date historical and forecast information enabling WCO members to better prepare and conduct their business operations.

The WCO Conference also featured Rafael Llerena, from Easyfresh, as a guest speaker who delved into the situation of the logistics sector and its evolution since the end of the COVID-19 pandemic. From Easyfresh’s presentation, a picture of the consolidation of the shipping sector emerges, with the market share of the largest shipping lines increasing by nearly 20 points since 2011 and the doubling of the market share of global deep-sea container shipping alliances.

A similar process has taken place on a more practical level, as there has been an overall increase in the size of newly fleeted ships and an accompanying decrease in the number of ports of call, which are increasingly coming to be dominated by East Asian ports.

At the same time, WCO also hosted the second meeting of its Global Marketing Working Group, which discussed at length the global citrus community approach for a common marketing operation to push for the consumption of citrus products. The discussion focused on the selection of a possible target market, and the different avenues for financing once a business plan and budget proposal are fleshed out.