"Spain: Rise in vegetables sales through small centers "sinks" prices"

The proliferation of small warehouses that commercialize fruits and vegetables is causing the commercial management at origin to stagger since there's a bigger internal competition causing a drop in the product's value. Prices stay at a minimum for the majority of vegetables cultivated in Almería such as cucumber, eggplant or courgette, vegetables that have a wide representation from Almería in the European market. But this rise in the operator's numbers at origin is making the commercial flux more difficult, by opposition to an offer concentration. At the same time, the automation - one of the big wrongs in this activity - is being taken by the distribution chains to obtain the maximum profit in commercial speculation of horticultural products.

According to data from the Provincial Delegation for Agriculture and Fishing, in the last year, the Almería province, counts twelve more small markets, mainly independent. Despite the Council of Agriculture and Fishing trying to encourage the offer concentration, economically supporting these business movements, automation continues and this rise in activity from small warehouses is "of no benefit to anyone", assured Andrés Góngora, provincial secretary for Coag-Almería.

Although, as pointed by Francisca Iglesias, secretary general for UPA-Almería, "the government administrative body is forced to give a license to farmers and professionals who ask for it to start the activity and sell fruits and vegetables when all conditions are met. There's nothing that can be done legally". To Góngora, "it's necessary for the Administration to regulate this matter somehow and establish criteria for the farmer's concentration to be enough to legalize small markets".

Source: Ideal