PROPERTY SEARCH
ARCHIVED - Fruit and vegetable prices triple in the Region of Murcia
Farmers in the Region have accused big businesses of “artificially inflating” produce prices to turn a greater profit
The gap between what farmers in the Region of Murcia charge for fresh produce and what we pay in the supermarkets is widening, virtually tripling in price in recent months.
The agricultural sector is already struggling, between the war in Ukraine pushing up the costs of electricity and fertiliser and recent storms irrevocably damaging harvests, and this so-called artificial inflation is a further blow.
The average farmer in Murcia is paid between 70 cents and 1.25 euros for apricots, while shoppers will fork out up to 3.95 euros for the same product in the supermarket. A similar trend can be seen in peaches, lemons and nectarines, whose prices are two and a half times higher in stores than what they originally cost.
“It is a general trend throughout the country, and it is a very strong speculative phenomenon that is largely motivated by inflation. That is serving as an excuse so that food distribution and supermarkets, in general, are causing an artificial rise in prices,” explained Alfonso Gálvez, general secretary of the Agrarian Association of Young Farmers (Asaja) in the Region of Murcia.
“The margins are totally abusive and the farmer still does not receive prices that are appropriate to his production costs,” he added.
Since the summer season began, the price of watermelons and melons has skyrocketed in particular, with many farmers likening the popular refreshing fruit to gold. The soaring cost isn’t benefiting the agricultural industry, however, which sells a watermelon for just 10 cents, only to see a kilo of the fruit going for as much as 1.60 euros in the supermarket.
The consequence of all this has been a decrease in the consumption of fresh fruit and veg, according to the OCU, which estimates that 62% of consumers have changed their shopping habits as a result of high prices, with one in five no longer buying fresh meat, fish, vegetables or fruit.
Asaja claims that hundreds of Murcian farmers, failing to make a profit or break even in many cases, are considering simply abandoning their farms. Hundreds of people turned out recently in protest, with agricultural workers demanding a further reduction in the cost of electricity diesel, as well as a price guarantee for farmers selling their produce.
Image: Archive
Sign up for the Spanish News Today Editors Roundup Weekly Bulletin and get an email with all the week’s news straight to your inbox
Special offer: Subscribe now for 25% off (36.95 euros for 48 Bulletins)
OR
you can sign up to our FREE weekly roundup!
Read some of our recent bulletins:
25% Discount Special Offer subscription:
36.95€ for 48 Editor’s Weekly News Roundup bulletins!
Please CLICK THE BUTTON to subscribe.
(List price 3 months 12 Bulletins)
Read more stories from around Spain:
Contact Spanish News Today: Editorial 966 260 896 /
Office 968 018 268
