"Spain: "Asparagus prices are skyrocketing"

Granada's green asparagus campaign, which started in early March, has been characterised by low-price averages for most of the year; however, since last week, prices have been skyrocketing.

"We've had very low average prices following the Mexican asparagus season, as there were excessive volumes in the markets when we started our harvest," reports Germán Rodríguez, from the commercial department of the San Isidro cooperative in Loja, Granada.

Prices have even fallen to two Euro per kilo in supermarkets, but last week, after so many months with low prices, prices started to increase, reaching very high levels for this time of the year.

"Normally, in the month of May, there are many promotions in supermarkets to boost sales, since we reach the highest peaks in terms of production, and prices are usually lower," explains the producer and exporter. "That's the opposite of what we are seeing at the moment; that is, very low volumes, because productivity during the previous months has been higher, as there have been no cold waves or abundant rainfall."

In addition to this, according to Germán Rodríguez, the situation has been aggravated because floods in Italy have greatly reduced the production of asparagus, and there is also scarcity in Germany and Hungary, which has left Spain quite alone.

"Despite these high prices, I don't think they will compensate for the low averages of the whole campaign that will end soon, although of course, it is something positive for us," he states.

The Granada-based cooperative mainly produces virgin olive oil, although in the last 3 years it has been doubling its production of green asparagus; a crop with growing popularity among producers.

Europe is the main market for this cooperative, which, for the first time, has shipped asparagus to Dubai and Singapore by plane this year. "Thanks to our visit to Fruit Logistica in Berlin, we have made contacts to export to these destinations, with which we are very satisfied. We are looking at the possibility of increasing our shipments by plane."