The Coordinator of Organizations of Growers and Ranchers (COAG) has denounced the speculative use of the Russian veto by large market operators to the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture; an activity carried out to push down fruit and vegetable prices in a totally unjustified manner.
Coinciding with the heatwave, fruit consumption has increased by 30% in Spain and Europe compared to the same week last year. Furthermore, according to major exporter organizations, watermelon shipments have increased by 35% and those of melons by 50% in recent weeks. However, prices at origin remain below production costs.
In the case of watermelons, sales are being made at 0.12 €/kg, despite the fact that demand has grown and the flow of shipments is very dynamic. There have been even some shortages and empty shelves. For melons, the average does not exceed € 0.17/kg.
For vegetables, prices also fail to reflect the current supply-demand situation.
"The situation is critical for summer fruit producers. There are no objective reasons for the market to behave this way, since there is high demand and a great flow of sales, but prices do not reflect it," stressed Andrés Góngora, head of COAG's fruit and vegetables sector, to which he added: "It is intolerable for a few large operators to be making use of the Russian veto as an excuse to take advantage of the producers, causing artificial market distortions that in no way obey the logic of supply/demand."
In this regard, during the meeting with the MAGRAMA, COAG will require a strengthening of controls on the part of the AICA to pursue sanctions against abusive business practices by middlemen and large retail chains.
Regarding the draft regulation submitted by the European Commission, COAG has asked the MAGRAMA to urge the Community authorities to prioritise green harvesting and non-harvesting, to increase the compensations for the withdrawal of produce intended for NGOs, charitable institutions, animal feed or composting, as well as the aid for the processing into juice, and to expand the list of products eligible for these measures to all fruits and vegetables, especially melons, watermelons, lettuce and courgettes. Furthermore, it is also necessary for individual producers to be able to benefit from these measures, without having to belong to a producer organization (PO), to ensure the effectiveness of the package for the sector as a whole.
Impact of the Russian veto in Almeria
In the province of Almeria, the impact of the Russian veto remains palpable when looking at prices. Proof of this is that tomatoes remain at 0.27 €/kg and courgettes at 0.24 €/kilo; prices well below production costs.
"Throughout the campaign we have seen the impact of the Russian veto on the province's fruits and vegetables. The campaign's results have been poor and we have the clearest illustration of this in the spring-summer campaign, when prices have been catastrophic. We will continue working to demand an increase in withdrawal prices and also for the inclusion in the regulation of fruits and vegetables that remain excluded, such as aubergines, courgettes, melons and watermelons, among others," concludes Góngora.