Enrique Colilles, the general director of Trops, stated in an interview with Efe that Spain has enormous growth potential given the increase in demand for avocado and mango in most countries on the European continent. Spain's importance in Europe's consumption of subtropical products is becoming more prominent and its future prospects are incredible, he added.
The growing boom of these fruits has led to the emergence of new avocado producers for Europe, such as Colombia, which could compete against Spain because of its relatively short transport period and lower costs. However, the Trops spokesman is convinced that their fruit has a very inferior quality.
Healthy Products
Subtropical products have emerged victorious from the pandemic; the avocado and mango reinforced their image as healthy and pleasant products, and the markets for these foods remained stable. There was only a slowdown in February due to circumstances and meteorological events in Europe, Colilles said.
Unfortunately, he said, the results obtained in last year's mango production campaign –from August to November- were not so good in the eastern part of the province of Malaga, where Trops has its headquarters and most of its crops, because of weather issues.
The avocado campaign which ended a month ago wasn't so bad, but it was significantly lower than expected. This is going to hurt the company's income at the end of the year, the CEO stated.
The crops of this eastern area of Malaga continue to be affected by the weather and the little water available for farmers. Colilles asked the administrations to work on the interconnection of hydrographic basins and to change the way Andalusia's water system is organized.
When asked about the next avocado and mango campaigns, Colilles said they had good prospects so far because the flowering was good. However, he added, they would soon know if the wind throws the fruit to the ground or if it grows in order to respond to the high demand for subtropics in Europe.
Source: efeagro.com