Difficult times for Spanish citrus sector

The Spanish citrus growers have been working at a loss for years already, but the situation this year is really very awkward. Ivan Garcia of Solaes says that more and more growers cannot make ends meet any more. The company grow, pack and export citrus in the region Castellon (Villareal). He is not optimistic about the future of the citrus sector, as part of the growers threaten to stop cultivation.

 

He says that a grower needs at least 0.24 Euro/kg to cover expenses for a year. "Only at a higher amount will he earn a living from his product." According to him many people do not realise that all kinds of expenses have to be added, so that the grower only receives very little. The cost of packing 10 kgs, at a trade mark packing station is 0.42 Euro/kg and to be added to this are the costs of, for instance, removal of bad fruit."
 
 
The market is very bad at the moment, Ivan says. "There is no money in Europe or people do not want to spend it," he explains. Also the warm weather and the cheaper Moroccan production do not support good sales. According to him if nothing changes in the short term a lot of citrus will remain on the trees, which is not good for the orchards. "They are already happy when someone comes to take the fruit from the trees, because they will only be out of pocket otherwise."

 

For more information:
Iván Garcia
Solaes Fruits, S.L.
75, Avda. Castellón
12450 Vila-Real (Castellón)
Tel. +34 964 506889
Fax +34 964 506901
www.solaesfruits.es