The associations Proexport and AMOPA, representing the interests of Spanish producers and marketers of lettuce and other leafy vegetables, have unanimously decided to enforce the mass destruction of lettuce as a crisis management measure to tackle a situation described as catastrophic, with rock-bottom prices during the entire campaign.
"We had never such low prices for so long. The current average stands at around 2 Euro per box, when the customary and reasonable price should be no lower than 4.5 Euro per box. These prices are ridiculously low and do not even come close to covering the production costs," explains Fernando P. Gómez, General Director of Proexport.
"It's a very difficult decision because of all the hard work there is behind the production and the great number of families living from it, but the situation is unsustainable for the entire sector and we are facing a real disaster," he assures.
According to the representative, growers will proceed to the destruction of mostly iceberg lettuce without the prospect of receiving funds, trying to reduce the available volumes by 30% to 50% given the huge pressure from supply chains, especially German ones, in the current context, marked by weather changes which have accelerated production by up to twenty days and which could cause an earlier end of the season.
"Distribution chains are once again showing a lack of consideration for what is going on in the fields, although it is also true that the trend in Germany, as in other European countries, the planting of their own vegetables is taking an increasingly bigger toll on our exports to these countries."