The first consignment of Cuban pineapples has landed in Spain and is receiving good initial acceptance in Mercamadrid, one of the country’s biggest wholesale markets.
Julio Alonso, of the company Fru&Ver, said the first shipment had been well received by buyers and that once the continuity and consistency of arrivals had been established the product could be set for wider distribution.
In addition to Madrid, the Cuban fruit is being sent to other cities like La Coruña in Galicia, said Alonso, whose company distributes imported produce from various countries in Europe, Latin America and Africa throughout Spain.
The first arrivals of Cuban pineapple in Mercamadrid were received by Cuba’s first deputy minister of internal trade, Odalys Escandell, and the island's ambassador in Spain, Eugenio Martinez, during a visit to the market.
The fruit, promoted in Spain as Oro Cubano, comes from the central province of Ciego de Avila, with a long tradition in pineapple cultivation, with the first plantings of the Spanish Red variety dating back to 1930.
Strong international demand prompted Cuba to resume pineapple exports last year following several years’ absence from the market and shipments are set to rise considerably in 2015 thanks to the high level of interest shown by European buyers.
In 2001 a stage of technological innovation and resource acquisition began, including the introduction of the MD-2 variety for export to Europe.
