Malta: Drop in fruit and vegetable supply

The fruit and vegetable supply between April and June this year dropped by 8.8 per cent to €12 million, while the wholesale value decreased by 3.9 per cent - from €5.5 million in the second quarter last year to €5.3 million this year.

The National Statistics Office said the volume of fresh vegetables fell by 9.5 per cent to 10.9 million kilogrammes over the comparative quarter in 2011.

Declines were registered in the supply of potatoes (-28.3 per cent), cauliflowers (-11.6 per cent), sugar melons (-13.3 per cent) and dry onions (-32.8 per cent).

The wholesale value of fresh vegetables registered a drop of 3.9 per cent to €4.3 million in the second quarter this year.

Fresh fruit supply declined marginally by 0.1 per cent, mainly on account of a decrease in the availability of peaches (-50.5 per cent) and (-26.3 per cent).

These declines were compensated for with increases of 28.4 and 47.8 per cent in the supply of early figs and strawberries, respectively.

The wholesale value of fresh fruit decreased by 3.5 per cent, to €1 million.

Source: www.timesofmalta.com