This year, Andalusia's garlic harvest will be between 20 and 25% smaller because of the abandonment of lands by growers who could not overcome last season's negative results. Overproduction and a stalling market has led many producers to sell the goods at even lower prices than those of the Chinese contingent, whose presence in the EU keeps increasing year after year and now exceeds 33,800 tonnes.
"The low prices of garlic so far have brought heavy losses to the Spanish garlic sector. Within this context, and considering that there is still more produce than usual stored in cold chambers, it will be difficult for garlic prices to recover, "says José Antonio Barranco, manager of Fresh & Dry Garlic.
However, unlike last year, when there were some quality problems caused by spring rains which also had an impact on prices, this year prospects are good in terms of quality, as the warm spring temperatures and the absence of heavy rainfall in Andalusia allowed for a good plant development. In Andalusia, the harvest of the Spring variety should start in about a fortnight.
José Antonio Barranco affirms that, "If it does not rain in the coming weeks, the garlic season should be marked by a superior quality produce and commercially interesting calibres."
Regarding sales destinations, Spanish garlic is distributed in the domestic market and exported to the European Union and North Africa, as well as to more far away destinations like South Africa, Australia and Brazil. "We have our eye on Brazil, where we believe imports will continue to increase, as it is one of the world's largest garlic consumers."
The Spanish garlic sector needs to create a consortium to be competitive
According to José Antonio, the current problems that the Spanish garlic sector is facing in terms of domestic oversupply, quality issues and competition from other producing countries could be solved if a nationwide export consortium was created.
"We urgently need to join forces in a consortium to unify criteria regarding production and marketing to improve our competitiveness. Not only does this entail concentrating supply, but also improving productivity and product quality in traditional local varieties and garlic seeds," said Jose Antonio Barranco.
"The lack of coordination between Spanish companies does not help us when competing against Chinese or Argentinian producers, who have more bargaining power than us in the export markets. We continue to have a regionalised mentality in a globalised market; therefore, I think the industry's strategies will drastically change in the coming years."
Fresh & Dry Garlic
Based in Jaén, Andalusia, and founded in 2006, Fresh & Dry Garlic, SLU is devoted to the production and marketing of fresh and dried garlic of the Spring, White American and Purple garlic varieties all year round. The company is formed by a team of young Andalusian professionals with plenty of experience in the Spanish garlic sector; the fourth generation in a long family tradition.
Contact:José Antonio Barranco
Fresh & Dry Garlic, S.L.U.
Calle Prolongación del Rosario, S/N
Campillo del río, Jaén. Spain
T: +34 953 63 61 22
M: +34 697451630
[email protected]
www.freshdrygarlic.com