Portugal is aiming to export a record €2 billion in fruit and vegetables in 2020 – most of it to neighbouring Spain which itself is a major fruit producer.
The weather is the key as in the first six months of 2018, exports of fruit and vegetables fell by 1%, year-on-year, to a total of €939 million.
The reason for a drop in sales was, "a result of the prolonged drought that lasted until February and the later rains this spring and summer, which delayed the start of the harvesting and lowered the sales value of most of Portugal’s horticultural products," explained the president of Portugal Fresh, Gonçalo Santos Andrade.
To reach the export goal, the Spanish are they key, "Spain, with 47 million inhabitants, is Portugal's largest trading partner and also the most important client of national fruit and vegetables.
“In 2017, sales to the Spanish market totaled €450 million, 13.6% more than in the previous year. The producers' goal is now to reach the 500 million euro mark. If we maintain the average annual growth rate of exports that we have registered since 2010, in the order of 10%, we can very soon reach that amount."
On 23 and 25 October, Portugal Fresh will be in Madrid at the international trade fair, ‘Fruit Attraction,’ where an exhibition area of 500 m2 has been booked.
After Spain, Portuguese producers are looking at deals to supply France, the UK – for the time being anyway, the Netherlands and Germany.
Portugal’s export success has not been without collateral damage with many scenic areas, especially in the Algarve, blighted by the plastic sheeting used to cover greenhouses.
Intensive ‘red fruit’ production has put pressure on underground water reserves with many locals near new growing areas complaining of dry boreholes.
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