Campo de Lorca met again with its producers and suppliers at the annual meeting, held last Thursday in Totana. It is an informative conference intended to keep everyone up to date about the situation of the most important products and crops for the company and the production area of the Guadalentin Valley, namely broccoli and artichoke, in all areas, including business, technical and agronomic, marketing, quality and consumer trends.
At the meeting, which was attended by the Councillor of Agriculture and Water of the Region of Murcia, Adela Martínez-Cachá, all participants highlighted the serious drought affecting the Guadalentín Valley during the start of the current campaign. Martinez-Cachá had the opportunity to outline all actions undertaken by the regional government to alleviate the situation. The Commercial Director of Campo de Lorca, Julio Marín Bravo, the regional director of Agromutua in Murcia, Francisco Ros, and the manager of Campo de Lorca and president of Proexport, Juan Marín Bravo, also took part in the event. The latter stressed that "producers in the Guadalentín Valley cultivate the best broccoli and artichoke in Europe."
This annual event serves to kick off the 2015-2016 vegetable season and symbolises the strong link between the company and the Guadalentín Valley and the great involvement with its growers. The sustainability of this production area is a key element in Campo de Lorca's strategy.
Broccoli exports
During the meeting, Councillor Adela Martinez-Cachá pointed out that the country's broccoli exports increased by 20 percent in 2014, and that the Region of Murcia is still "Spain's largest exporter of brassicas."
Both in terms of volume and value, the UK is the main destination for the broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage or kohlrabi exported by Spain. The second destination is Germany, which accounts for 18 percent, followed by the Netherlands and France, with 12 and 13 percent, respectively.
Regarding artichokes, the Councillor said that "62 percent of national exports go to France. Exports in 2014 recorded an increase of 15 percent in volume and 20 percent in value. The region accounts for 37.89 percent of the national total, making it the second most important province when it comes to artichoke exports." France and Italy are the largest European consumers of artichoke, together absorbing around 70 percent of the total export volumes.