The Citrus Management Committee (CGC), the association that brings together the country's main private operators, exporters and importers, denied the presence of citrus fruits imported from South Africa, or any other source in the southern hemisphere, on the shelves of Spanish supermarkets or hypermarkets during December and January, other than in residual amounts.
The CGC has released this information as a response to the news disseminated for the past few weeks by a Valencian agrarian organization. After investigating all reported cases and checking the situation with retail chain buyers, the CGC has found that such infringements are basically the result of mistakes in the information conveyed to the consumer, and that not everyone has made the same efforts to correct them. After the complaints, some important retailers have been ordered to review the situation, but others have done nothing about it.
It is not the first time this has happened; in fact, mistakes about the origin of oranges or mandarins sold in bulk are common in supermarkets and hypermarkets. The situation is observed year after year; the boards with information for the consumer are only updated to change the price, so the product is consequently devalued and mistreated by not reviewing other key issues relevant to the consumer, such as the origin, variety or even commercial category.
In this sense, the CGC wanted to stress how nonsensical it would be for Spanish citrus operators to continue supplying foreign fruit once the local campaign had started. In no way would such a thing be possible, or even profitable, especially given how they always try to supply fruit in the best condition, with freshness and quality.
Source: Citrus Management Committee (CGC).