In France, Spanish clementines are sold to the public for up to 7 euro per kilo. This price is up to three times higher than in Spanish supermarkets, while the purchase and sale operations in the Clemenules field ranged from 0.30 to 0.37 euro per kilogram, according to the Citrus Prices Table of the Consulate of the Lonja de Valencia.
The price difference between Spanish and French supermarkets for the same fruit is certainly remarkable; however, what is certain is that European trade sells mandarins at a significantly higher price than Spanish shops. That's why the Valencian Association of Farmers (AVA-Asaja) has denounced before the Food Information and Control Agency (AICA) the actions of a chain that has launched a promotional campaign in Spain reducing the price of mandarins by 25% just as the citrus harvest begins in Spain.
The agricultural organization has asked the AICA, a body under the Ministry of Agriculture, to open an investigation into the chain and, if necessary, impose an exemplary sanction on it for allegedly committing sales at a loss, since selling this product at 1.49 euro per kilo could have brought down the value of the product along the food chain.
The president of AVA-Asaja, Cristobal Aguado, fiercely criticized this distribution chain for "once again shamelessly demonstrating its animosity towards Spanish citriculture. They had no problem maintaining reasonable prices when their supermarkets were full of oranges and mandarins from South Africa and other countries in the southern hemisphere. But now that the first Spanish mandarins are beginning to be marketed, suddenly they're in a rush to use citrus as a loss leader. Thus, we can infer the Germans put their commercial ties with South Africa before European solidarity and phytosanitary safety,” he added.
"This lower price doesn't allow producers to cover production costs, which have increased by 41% in the last year, according to data from the Ministry of Agriculture," Aguado stated.
Source: levante-emv.com