Despite Spanish households spending more on fresh fruit and vegetables in the opening half of 2018, consumption actually fell in the country – a situation described as 'worrying' by Spanish association Fepex.
According to data from the Ministry of Agriculture's Food Consumption Panel, fresh produce spending in the first half grew 2 per cent to €5.8bn, while actual consumption dropped 1 per cent to 3.78bn kg.
Fruit consumption fell 2.8 per cent year-on-year, the data revealed, with home consumption of oranges, apples, melons, kiwifruit, peaches and nectarines all falling.
Potato consumption also dropped through the six-month period, down 3 per cent to 455m kg.
There was some good news, however, as vegetable consumption actually grew 3.1 per cent to 1.31bn kg, with notable rises in tomato and onion consumption.
'For Fepex, the downward trend in the consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables in households is worrying, despite being considered the main components of a healthy diet,' the association noted.
'For this reason, it is considered a priority to reinforce communication by involving the different administrations, mainly in the health sector,' Fepex added.
