COAG Almería showed its indignation after finding out that marketers in the province are importing fruit from third countries for its sale on supermarkets at a time when "the campaign is in full swing for fruits like melon and watermelon. We will not have any qualms about publicly denouncing, traders, supermarkets and retail chains that are disloyal to Almeria's agriculture. It is unacceptable for those companies that we help support to hamper the marketing of our own productions," said Andrés Góngora, provincial secretary of COAG Almería.
Góngora harshly criticises them by stating: "if we had no melons and watermelons here I would understand the imports from other countries, but when our harvest season is at its peak, this is unacceptable. We can only tell these companies and supermarkets that if they are unfair to growers in Almeria, they may have to pay for the consequences."
COAG stressed that thanks to the clear labelling of watermelons "we learned that the origin of the watermelons is Senegal and, through the health registry we learned that the marketing company is SAT Agro Almanzora."
"Unfair aid"
The agricultural organisation has also issued a warning to the Andalusian Government to be more vigilant when distributing aid to traders, since many of the companies that are disloyal to Almeria's agriculture "receive public subsidies. If the Andalusian Government really has a firm commitment to fruits and vegetables it should withdraw any subsidies granted to companies that contribute in this way to reduce the income of growers. Nobody should forget that our melon and watermelon campaign is in full swing and prices are well below what would be normal at this time of the year," concludes the provincial secretary of COAG Almería. More information:
Andrés Góngora Belmonte
Provincial secretary of COAG Almería
T: +34 619 301 754