A proposed promotional campaign from Spanish fresh produce organisations Proexport and Hortyfruta has been chosen by Spain’s ministry of agriculture to restore the image of the country’s exports following this year’s E.coli crisis.
The selection means that the strategy is step closer to being able to access European Commission funds, according to the organisations.
In a joint statement, Proexport and Hortyfruta expressed their satisfaction that the work carried out was “moving in the right direction” and that “all the efforts being undertaken would have beneficial repercussions for the Spanish horticultural sector”.
The organisations said the objective of the proposed campaign was to rebuild the image of Spanish fruits and vegetables in their principal export markets and restore consumer confidence in the products after Spanish cucumbers were wrongly linked to June’s E.coli outbreak in Germany.
The Spanish government is expected to present the promotional plan to the European Union on 16 September to ask for additional funding to meet the estimated €3m cost for a campaign that is projected to last for three years.
Hortyfruta and Proexport have already pledged a joint €600,000 towards the promotion that it is anticipated will be staged in Germany, the UK and Austria, the three markets that account for 41 per cent of Spanish fresh produce exports.
