Spanish fruit and vegetable exports to Russia increased by 47 per cent in 2011 compared with the year before, which in large part accounted for a major rise in sales to non-European markets.
Sales to Russia totaled 243,025 tonnes during last year, while exports to all countries outside the EU also grew by 23 per cent to 814,896 tonnes, according to Spanish federation Fepex.
With Spanish fresh produce companies increasingly seeking alternative destinations away from saturated EU markets, Fepex said there was now a “greater dynamism” to find clients outside Europe among the sector.
However, aside from Russia, Norway and Switzerland still account for the majority of Spanish non-EU sales, with only 3 per cent of exports reaching markets outside Europe.
In fact, Fepex revealed that Spanish exports to Japan and the US during 2011 dropped by 35 per cent and 11 per cent respectively.
