La Comunitat Valenciana, one of the main producers of almonds in Valencia, Spain, is worried that its regular clients are increasingly buying their almonds in America. One of their Spanish buyers, Grupo Antiu Xixiona, chief producer of nougat, is buying almonds in Spain for the moment, but might switch to almonds produced in North America.
The Valencian Union of Agriculture (LA UNIÓ de Llauradors) states that Spanish companies are increasingly importing American almonds, even though Spanish almonds are said to be of better quality than those from California. Valencia producers find this development hard to fathom, as according to them, the domestic almonds are not only better, but actually cheaper than the American ones.
So far, Spain’s almond market is showing positive numbers. Still, producers are worried that with US competition, exchange rate will be at least 20% lower.
To add to the apprehensions, recent droughts in Valencia have yielded a smaller crop than expected, 18% smaller so far. The Valencian Union hopes that Spanish companies will prefer domestic almonds in the near future, as a dwindling market would be devastating to Valencia’s economy.