Striking Spanish hauliers are disrupting exports of fresh produce and availability of some products in the UK will soon be affected, importers told freshinfo.
Hauliers officially went on strike over spiralling fuel prices on Monday, but unofficial strikes were already in place as early as Thursday last week. On Wednesday, negotiations between unions and the national government in Spain were at an impasse, although the French border had re-opened.
Quique Oliver of Valencia-based exporter Agriveg said: “Striking hauliers are not letting any lorries pass, not just on motorways but on more minor routes too. Exporters are not sending - it is too risky. In some places, the Guardia Civil is escorting tankers to supply petrol stations, and hauliers are attacking lorries that try to break through.”
In the UK, one melon importer said the situation for supplies is extremely difficult and customers have not grasped its gravity.
“All the packhouses are shut in Almería, and producers are taking the unusual measure of white-washing their greenhouses to try and slow fruit development,” he said.
“But by the time this is resolved and people start loading again, the season from Murcia will have started and growers in Almería will just have to dispose of their product.
“This is really hitting them hard, and it is going to be a disaster. But some of our customers just don’t understand that there are no alternatives - seafreight is no good, as people can’t even get their fruit to the ports.”
Supplier Poupart has its own office in Spain. “In the next day or so it will start hitting us,” said the firm’s Jonathan Olins from the UK office. “It is mostly peaches and nectarines that are being affected, and France and Italy are already putting their prices up. We are sourcing cherries from Greece, Italy and the US, and plums from Israel, but hauliers in France are potentially going on strike next week, so this is a problem that is not going away.”
The strikes are compounding an already complex stonefruit season. “This has got to be one of the most challenging seasons for years,” said Mike Harpham of importer Malet Azoulay. “We have had rain and hail, and now the strikes in Spain, and rain and then excessive heat in California.
“The coldstores are full of fruit in Spain and, once the strike lifts, growers will be desperate to sell it, so we could see a major drop in quality.”
