Spain: Oranges from Valencia flood the net

The internet became the new field where more and more citrus producers compete, transferring their plantations to the virtual world with the end objective of getting better commercial margins and compensating for the price drop at origin.

In the last years the pages of farmers have multiplied, mainly in the Comunitat Valenciana, offering oranges directly to consumers. According to those responsible for a webpage, there are between 50 to a hundred pages, strengthening price competition.

Like the portal "Naranjas de Origen", recently started by the Valencia citrus producer Julio Mayordomo, that decided to bet on this before the progressive drop in prices at origin for oranges and the benefits reduction from last year, up to the point that they don't cover costs.

According to explanations given to Efeagro, in the first months in the virtual market, sales online reached 10% of the total and it's expected that this number will grow in the future.

According to data from the Observatory of Consumption and Food Distribution for 2011, about 8.5% of consumers bought food products on the internet sometimes, a number raising to 15% if we only consider younger consumers (20 to 35 years old).

At "Naranjas de Origen" they also expect that more Spanish producers decide to sell on the internet, after a new agricultural agreement between Morocco and the European Union that causes uncertainty about future drops in prices at origin.

The majority of this web's clients come from the north part of the Peninsula, many from Madrid and some shipments go to the North of Spain and even abroad.

Source: ABC