Spanish exporter association Proexport is calling for the urgent implementation of a Europe-wide communications campaign to restore confidence among consumers in Spanish fruits and vegetables, after melon and watermelon sales dropped by 50 per cent.
Speaking at Spanish fresh produce federation Fepex’s national congress today (23 June) in Lorca, Spain, Proexport president Juan Marín called for the immediate start of a pan-European consumer-focused promotional drive to be financed by the European Commission and Germany to repair the damage done by the recent E.coli-related ‘cucumber crisis’.
Marín said there was “enormous concern” among Spain’s fresh produce sector about the “general collapse” in fruit and vegetable consumption across Europe, following the link, since proven false, made by German officials between Spanish cucumbers and the recent German E.coli outbreak.
In fact, Marín told delegates that the crisis had caused a 50 per cent fall in orders for Spanish melons and watermelons this season compared with last year’s campaign, as well as a general fall in prices for all fruit and vegetable exports.
For this reason, Fepex president Jorge Brotons demanded that the European Commission as the body “directly responsible for the crisis” should pay 100 per cent of the damages caused to Spanish exporters.
Brotons called for “compensation not aid” that atoned for “the serious damage produced by the (European Commission’s) management of the crisis”.
In a separate development, the Fepex general assembly has also approved a €20,000 aid package to go towards the reconstruction of Lorca, which was badly damaged by last month’s earthquake.
