"Spain: "The mango sector needs better communication"

Mango production in Spain, both in the Costa Tropical of Malaga and Granada, as well as in the Costa de la Luz, is growing year after year in the face of the high demand worldwide.

"We are preparing for our second mango campaign and we have noticed a lack of communication between producers, like the one we see in the citrus sector, for example," explains Juan de Dios Pérez, of Pérez Zara Agrícola. "It would be interesting to be able to sit down and agree on prices, talk about the market and devise strategies," he adds. "We cannot simply estimate the value of our products without control, because there will be speculation that will affect our sales in the rest of Europe. We need to strive for profitability together."

In recent years, there has been a significant increase in the number of hectares planted, "and therefore, the impact on the available volume will be noticeable if all goes well," explains Pérez.

It is a very profitable crop, both because of phytosanitary aspects and the production volume that can be achieved. "So far, everything has been going smoothly; the flowers have set and we are starting to see the first small fruits," adds Pérez. The only problem they may have to face is a likely shortage of water in August, since it is being a particularly dry year.

As for the logistics, "although we have much to improve in Spain, we have managed to catch up. This means that we have stopped using countries like the Netherlands as marketers and have started using them as a redistribution point," explains the representative of Pérez Zara Agrícola.