The lower supply of sweet potatoes in Spain is keeping the demand and prices at very high levels, as the product is becoming increasingly popular every year.
"Adverse weather conditions, with phenomena such as droughts, prevented the sowing of sufficient sweet potatoes in the main producing areas, as there was too much moisture and even mud in the fields, so the sweet potato production has been considerably reduced," says Marta Guerra, from Plantas de Boniato Miguel Guerra. "Fortunately, it hasn't affected us significantly, and we've been able to continue producing plants."
© Plantas de Boniato Miguel Guerra
Marta, together with her brother, represents the third generation in this family business located in Axarquia, in Malaga, which produces and sells sweet potato plants for the domestic market, mainly in Seville, Cadiz, Valencia, Barcelona, Alicante, and the Balearic Islands, as well as for Portugal, Poland, Hungary, African countries, etc.
"For the last few years, sweet potato cultivation has been experiencing a boom, with growing consumer demand which has led to an increase in growers' interest in this product," says Marta Guerra.
© Plantas de Boniato Miguel Guerra
"More and more nutritionists are aware of its health benefits and are including it in diets, and it has become a very popular ingredient for many recipes. There are also an increasing number of loyal consumers who are willing to pay any price for the product," she says.
The main varieties produced by this nursery, both in the open ground and in greenhouses, are the orange-fleshed Beauregard, Covington, and California, which are the most demanded by growers because of their high and quick productivity, as well as their greater resistance to diseases.
© Plantas de Boniato Miguel Guerra
"In our case, Egypt's competition is going largely unnoticed. Also, there are many marketing companies that don't work with Egyptian products, as their large-scale retail clients don't want them. Generally speaking, this is due to them having a shorter shelf life and generating more waste than Spanish products, which are also produced in a cleaner way. The market and consumers pay attention to where products come from," says Marta Guerra. "Therefore, Spanish sweet potatoes serve as a complement to U.S. sweet potatoes in the off-season."
© Plantas de Boniato Miguel Guerra
The company continues to grow slightly every year despite the challenge of water shortages. "It's becoming increasingly difficult to find land with sufficient water. We have just suffered a great drought in the Axarquia area, although the rains at the end of last year and this year have helped refill the reservoirs, and we will have enough water for this season and the next," says Marta Guerra.
For more information:
Marta Guerra
Plantas de Boniato Miguel Guerra, S.L.
Tel.: +34 622586030
[email protected]
https://plantasdeboniato.com/
