LA UNIÓ accuses the big distribution of sinking the price of watermelon

LA UNIÓ of Llauradors i Ramaders has denounced that the great distribution is dragging down in this campaign the prices of the watermelon, with offers reclamation of the product in its commercial centers. A situation, it warns, that will end up being extended to supermarkets, so as not to lose competitiveness.

As evidence of the above, LA UNIÓ filed today, July 10th, a complaint to the Food Information and Control Agency (AICA), a subsidiary of the Ministry of Agriculture, and the Directorate General of Trade and Consumer Affairs and the Directorate General de Agricultura, both of the Generalitat Valenciana, against the commercial distribution chain Alcampo, for commercial practices that could be contrary to the Law of the Food Chain. Thus, chain Alcampo sells striped watermelon at 0.29 euros / kg within a campaign called “Crazy Days” and LA UNIÓ understands that allegedly such an offer could violate the Food Chain Act, since it is a price that would suppose sales below production costs – do not lower the crop of 0.18 euros / kg – and marketing. The purchase ticket made by LA UNIÓ is from the Alcampo shopping center in Bonaire-Aldaia.

The last official prices paid for this production, corresponding to the week of June 27th to July 3th of the Regional Ministry of Agriculture, are with nuggets between a fork of 0.12 to 0.18 euros / kg and without seeds of EUR 0,18 to EUR 0,40 / kg. Another thing are the prices in the field that are still lower. The aforementioned prices must be added the costs corresponding to hauling, handling and transport to the points of sale of final distribution.

The area of watermelon grown in the Region of Valencia has declined in recent years and also production, as it has gone from a harvest of 119,800 tonnes in 2006 to 76,283 tonnes in 2016

All this because of the lack of profitability of the producers, circumstance that is increased with the pressure of the great distribution to put the prices down now.

Autonomous communities such as Andalusia and Murcia have specialized in the cultivation of earlier watermelon and when it reaches the market Valencia is saturated and the large distribution is responsible for moving a bearish trend

Nor does it help that the temperatures in the different countries buying watermelons from the European Union are not too high, since it is already known that it is a vegetable associated with heat.

Source: La Unió de Llauradors