This year's has been one of the best garlic campaigns in recent memory in Aceuchal, Extremadura's garlic "capital". There are years of tradition behind the product's planting, harvesting and trading.
Everything points to the growers being able to sell the product for more than 1 Euro per kilo; an encouraging figure, considering that in 2015 they only received 80 cents. 2012, when the product's price fell as low as 0.56 Euro per kilo, has been left far behind.
One of the main reasons why this campaign has been one of the most profitable in recent times is that there is currently no garlic in stock, so the first batches have not been affected by lower prices. "China, which is the world power when it comes to garlic production, faced flooding problems last year and that has caused the Spanish stock to run out," explains Pozo Montejano, manager of the cooperative Ajos Tierra de Barros, which started operating in 2012 with 35 members (now up to 50) and has managed to produce 2.9 million kilos in 2016.
The price it costs to set up a hectare of garlic which will then yield about 10 or 12 tonnes is around 7,000 Euros. As is the case for most crops, distributors profit most from the product's marketing. "Right now, a quarter of a kilo is sold for between 2 and 3 euros; a significant margin, considering that the grower receives between 60 cents and 1 Euro for every kilo sold," explained Julio César Meléndez and his brother.
"Production in this town and its surrounding areas during this year may amount to around 20 million kilos," as reported by the cooperative Ajos Tierra de Barros. This figure makes the region the fourth largest producer in Spain, which has a total of 26,000 hectares.
Meanwhile, on the world market there are four major centres of production and consumption: Asia; Europe or the Mediterranean (which includes Spain, France and Italy together with Egypt and Turkey due to their geographical proximity); America, (which includes Mexico and the United States) and South America, (which includes Brazil, Argentina and Chile).
As regards production in the European Union, Spain ranks first, and, looking at the autonomous regions, the one with the largest acreage devoted to the crop is Castile-La Mancha. Globally, China is the largest producer and its direct and indirect imports are highly competitive with the Spanish and European production, since its price levels are significantly lower than those of Spanish garlic, mainly due to the huge differences in wages, as well as the higher yields obtained.
Regarding exports made during 2015, the National Garlic Bureau notes that "there has been a growth in the volume and average price of shipments from Spain to the European Union and third countries. This includes exports to Brazil, which have doubled compared to 2014, reaching 13,000 tonnes, or to the United States, which have tripled and reached 7,200 tonnes. In total, up until October 2015, Spain had exported 126,000 tonnes to all destinations; a record never before achieved, and with a total reported value of close to 200 million Euro."