At this time, with apple and pear consumption at its peak, and coinciding with the second year of Afrucat's nationwide campaign "Look after yourself as an apple does", the association is spreading another message on social media: "Pay attention to the origin". This campaign aims to promote local fruit and responsible consumption with a series of videos inviting us to reflect on how we choose what we eat.
Manel Simon, General Director of Afrucat, says that "we are seeing an incredible response worldwide from those who have seen the campaign, who have shown interest in replicating and adhering to it. We believe this is a very important time to appreciate local produce, especially given all the protests from our agricultural producers and ranchers, and we need the support of the population to be able to continue producing with our quality and food safety standards."
Two out of every five apples are imported
According to production, import and export data for 2023, two out of every five apples and one out of every five pears consumed in Spain are still imported. Moreover, the productions of some countries which had never enjoyed a significant presence in the Spanish market are gaining ground. Such is the case of Portuguese and Polish apples, each now accounting for more than 14% of the imported apples. As for pear imports, Portugal has also grown and reached 13% of the total.
The main countries from which Spain imports apples are still Italy and France (with 38% and 23% of the total, respectively). As for pears, the main suppliers are Belgium and the Netherlands (with 42% and 26%, respectively). In both cases, Portugal ranks third.
According to an Afrucat report on retail data (Infolineal), in the last quarter of 2023, the apple supply was 100% of national origin in 14% of all inspected retailers, while in the case of pears, 100% of the supply was of national origin in 28% of stores.
Manel Simon says that "little by little, the apples of national origin are gaining ground and relevance on the shelves thanks to varietal changes and new Spanish plantations, fully adapted to new consumer tastes; however, we still need people to support us through conscious purchases."
For more information:
Afrucat
C/ Corregidor Escofet, 64
25005 Lleida, Spain.
T: +34 973 22 01 49
www.afrucat.com