"The first watermelon shipments from Senegal have already been on the shelves for a few weeks, and the uncertainty is great, since the weather does not encourage consumption. Thus, in a few weeks, there could be an oversupply situation that distributors could use to push prices down," points out a representative of ASAJA-Almeria.
In fact, ASAJA warns that more and more Spanish trading companies are actually producing and importing melons and watermelons in Morocco and Senegal, flooding the market and causing prices at origin to drop by the time Almeria's harvest kicks off. "If we hit the market and there is already a situation of excess supply, or if, for example, the product is not well-rated by the consumer at that time, we suffer a clear disadvantage. It is as if instead of jumping on the field and playing the game, we stayed on the bench and risked not even making our debut," said ASAJA President Francisco Vargas.
"The situation worries us because of the interest shown in these products by Spanish importing companies, which enjoy greater commercial margins. If at first the idea is to be able to offer a given product to supermarkets all year round, or when there is no domestic production, the truth is that they flood the market, which has an impact on our campaign. They also raise prices to take advantage of the greater interest of consumers in the product at the start of the season," explains Vargas.
In the case of melons, the competition with Senegal, Brazil and Morocco is causing the acreage to be gradually reduced, not just in the province, but also nationwide. Growers are choosing to replace this product due to the low prices paid for it by traders. Unfortunately, this is also happening with watermelons, especially with the ones harvested in the summer, which is precisely when the fruit is in season.
This external competition is growing with the arrival of shipments from Mercosur countries, which will benefit from the new agreement signed with Europe.