Cooler and wetter spring weather in many melon-growing countries has led to lower fruit ripening and a slower start to the season. The demand was slightly lower because the cold and rainy weather in Central and Northern Europe did not stimulate consumption. The bad weather during early spring together with a slight decrease in plantings caused lower early yields in Spain. Warmer weather during the rest of spring and early summer led to a significant increase in demand from local Spanish consumers that resulted in price rises.
In Italy, the prolonged drought caused Sicilian melons and watermelons to suffer. The mild winter brought the harvest forward by 15 days. The Netherlands has seen disappointing melon sales due to the bad weather throughout Spring and into early Summer. The situation is the same in Germany, where the wet weather has lead to low demand over the last few weeks. Hungary had an earlier start to their watermelon season, with exports expected to increase due to challenges in other big growing countries. The start of the melon season in France is very complicated, due to the bad weather. The early window of May and June were bad months with very little consumption and production problems still linked to bad weather, which caused a lot of product deviations.
