As the melon and watermelon season from Almería in southern Spain gets set, grower groups in the region are calling on the provincial agriculture authorities to focus this year’s Don’t Cut Green campaign on marketing desks.
The authorities run the campaign every year to discourage growers from harvesting immature fruit, but this year grower representative body Coag Almería is calling for growers to report others that cut their fruit too early and warning marketers not to buy immature fruit at the farm gate.
“It is the responsibility of all of us to make sure these products to not reach the end consumer,” said Coag Almería secretary Andrés Góngora. “At Coag we know that this practice is diminishing year on year, but we should not all have to pay for the carelessness of the few.”
Almería has been losing out on its traditional early window on the European melon market as Latin American producers extend their season very cost effectively. Coag Almería is keen to reassert the value of its product and sees the Don’t Cut Green initiative as a vital part of maintaining its image.
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