Hungary’s favourite summer fruit returns at record high prices

Hungarian melons are back in the shops. Producers expect good quality and large quantities, but prices have increased.

The return of melons

Already launched this week, Hungarian melons are making a wide comeback next week. From the first week of July, you’ll find Hungary’s favourite summer fruit in shops across the country.

According to the National Chamber of Agriculture and the Hungarian Melon Growers’ Association, there could be enough melon to supply consumers until mid-September.

Technology change

Melon production in Hungary has changed a lot in recent years, index.hu reports. Today, melons are grown on half the area, but in similar quantities. This year, the production area has also started to increase, from 2600 hectares last year to 2900 hectares this year.

Experts expect a harvest of 140-160,000 tonnes this year. Of these, 15,000 tons are yellow melons, the rest watermelons. According to the experts, everything is in place for a quality and tasty harvest this year.

“The increase in the area under cultivation is also a big word because the size of the area is generally stagnating or decreasing, so that the same or larger quantities of melons have to be grown on smaller and smaller areas. And the key to achieving this is to increase efficiency,” pointed out Ferenc Apáti, President of FruitVeB.

However, as melon exports declined, the technology had to be improved. This included the replacement of the outdated melon varieties by hybrid melons and the introduction of production under film (foil). Production became more efficient and disease resistant, sokszinuvidek.24.hu writes.

Both for Hungary and for export

On average, we eat 10 kilograms of melons per person in Hungary. Consumption patterns are changing. There is now a growing demand for smaller 4-6 kilo melons, and more people are buying seedless melons.

Trade unions want Hungary to have another strong export year. “Thanks to the change in producers’ approach – in which the association played a major role – changes have been made in sorting and transport, making the goods more homogeneous and exportable,” said Balázs Győrffy, president of the NAK.

Production costs have risen by 50 percent, which means that this year, we can expect to buy Hungarian melons at an average price of around HUF 800 (EUR 2.16) per kilogram.

Melons are 90 percent water, which helps hydration, and they are also an excellent source of vitamin C and help protect against UV radiation.