LA UNIÓ de Llauradors (Growers' Union) has announced that the New Year has brought one more surprise for this year's disastrous citrus campaign, and that is that the supermarket chain Dia is still currently selling oranges from South Africa in a very poor condition.
Both in physical stores (as can be seen in the receipt from a Dia supermarket in Orihuela, Alicante, and another one from Pozuelo de Alarcón, in Madrid), and in the state-wide online store, it is possible to buy oranges of the Navel variety from the Republic of South Africa for 1.39 €/kg.
This circumstance is totally illogical at this time and serves to refute all arguments used to try justifying the presence of oranges in our markets when there were none available. It is also shocking given the disastrous campaign suffered by Spanish citrus producers in the Region of Valencia, with ruinous prices and tremendous difficulties to sell the fruit.
The extension of the import period for citrus from South Africa to 30 November, with a gradual decline in entry prices each year until their disappearance in 2025, could be lethal for Valencian citrus growing, as has repeatedly been denounced by LA UNIÓ.
This extension of the import period entails the possibility of huge citrus volumes being introduced in the last days of the same, thus allowing the presence of South African oranges of poor quality in the market beyond Christmas, which directly affects the productions that are now at their best organoleptic moment. Allowing the entry of oranges from South Africa for an extra month and a half was, is and will be, as LA UNIÓ has criticised, an obvious tool to put further pressure on prices at origin.
The situation in the first stage of the citrus campaign has been an absolute disaster for producers and has been aggravated by the sales policy of certain distribution chains and the agreement with South Africa, as LA UNIÓ has publicly denounced in recent months.
LA UNIÓ has carried out an intense campaign, and will continue to do so, to denounce all abusive or illogical actions. From these large-scale sales of oranges from South Africa (or other countries) at this time, which is legal, but unethical, to the lack of sale contracts or changes in their conditions based on absurd excuses.