The group of growers of Frutas Luna was increased again last year. "The Spanish horticulturists are getting a little tired of moving their product to and fro with the large auction houses and corporations. They want certainty and our manner of working with direct lines is what they appreciate" Kees Havenaar, the manager, says. "It is striking that from England there is a demand for annual programs and the growers of course are quite happy with that."
Difficult season
The Spanish vegetable season will for many products run till the end of May, but Kees in the middle of the season looks back at a difficult period. "We started late and when prices were low for a long period it is not easy to increase them. Furthermore nobody here mentions the EHEC-crisis anymore."
The cold weather in Spain has limited the supply of vegetables very much. Around Almeria it was cold and there was severe frost. That resulted in damage to the cultivation of courgettes, tomatoes and peppers, especially on the north side. Locally the growers were hurt by this" Kees says.
The limited supply caused an increase in price. At the moment the price of yellow peppers is in excess of 2 Euro and also the green and red peppers are more than one Euro. "The prices of aubergines, courgettes and cucumbers have decreased somewhat now, possibly as a result of the supply from the Netherlands" says Kees.
Free Trade Agreement Morocco
The trader and mainly the growers have noticed with indignation the free trade agreement between the EU and Morocco. "I really do not understand this and that it is allowed, but there could of course be other interests. Also, although there was not always a good control on the imports from Morocco, it will now become very difficult for especially Spanish tomato and citrus growers and also for traders."