Poor prices for Spanish vegetables

The Spanish vegetable season has been quite disappointing so far, particularly for growers. It is very quiet on the market as well. Guy Deryckere from Van Lier says that this season has not been good for any Spanish vegetables, except zucchini, "It is slow on the market right now, which is why prices are not rising."

Guy continues, "With the exception of zucchini, the prices for Spanish vegetables are very low. We have not yet received Spanish tomatoes. They are obviously still very cheap in Spain. They arrive at a different time each year. Sometimes they arrive mid-November, other times they arrive at the beginning of December. By the time we start with Spanish tomatoes it is usually already December."

Guy expects that the poor greenhouse vegetable situation will continue, "For the situation to improve the weather in Spain would have to cool down so that there is less supply, but for now there is a lot of product."

Spanish growers hand out their products for free

This week Spanish growers gave out their vegetables for free. On Tuesday the Union of Small Farmers (UPA) in Andalusia gave out more than 8,500 kilos of tomatoes, cucumbers and bell peppers in the center of Almeria in protest against the low prices. In just a few weeks time the price of tomatoes in Spain has fallen from 1.17 to 24 cents.

Growers are blaming the warm weather, which has lasted longer than normal, (in their own words) 'aggressive' competition from Morocco, speculation from traders and middlemen in the chain.