Spain’s fresh produce sector earned an estimated €180m last year from sales of fresh-cut fruit and vegetables in 2008, thanks in the main to a 3.2 per cent sales rise during the first 11 months of the year, according to new industry figures.
Afhorla (the Spanish Association of Ready-to-eat Fruit and Vegetable producers) said that the country’s total volume of fresh-cut fruit and vegetable production reached 57,455 tonnes during the 11 months.
The association, which is composed of the seven principal fresh-cut producers in the country, said that vegetables – particularly lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, spinach and chard – continue to account for 98 per cent of products sold by the sector.
The region of Murcia, where two of the major fresh-cut companies are located, is currently Spain’s leading fresh-cut zone, with some 9,300ha and an estimated 62 per cent of cultivated land used for production of the products.
