Rabat - Morocco's growing exports of raspberries and blueberries are expected to saturate the European market, causing concern among Spanish farmers, Freshuelva director Rafael Domínguez told FreshPlaza.
Despite approaching alarming levels of water stress, Morocco is encouraging investment in water-intensive crops such as berries.
" Morocco is increasing export volumes of raspberries and blueberries and selling them at very aggressive prices," Dominguez said. "The market has been saturated with supplies for about two weeks and prices have dropped to low levels [and] we are very concerned about the raspberry campaign."
Dominguez added that Spanish farmers "cannot get into a price war with this country," referring to Morocco's cost-competitive productions due to lower production and labor costs.
Freshuelva 's director said this season's raspberry production in Huelva and Morocco "is reaching its highest point ever" thanks to the warm and sunny Mediterranean climate. However, the area dedicated to cultivation is decreasing in Spain, while Moroccan growers are planting more crops to increase production.
The increasing flow of foreign investment into the Moroccan berry industry is helping the North African country become a major exporter of valuable fruits such as blueberries. By increasing its participation in the fruit market, and particularly the berry market, Morocco competes directly with traditional exporters such as Spain, France and Italy in the EU market.
"Our goal now is to let Europe know the value of European products," Domínguez explained. "Increasing competition from third countries, increasingly limited availability of water resources and labor shortages are some of the biggest problems facing the sector."
MOROCCO'S GROWING MARKET
With Morocco developing its agricultural infrastructure with the help of EU and private investment, the French-Italian contact group hopes to address the issue of Moroccan competition at its next meeting.
Despite severe drought and alarming levels of water stress, Moroccan agricultural policies continue to support the production of water-intensive crops, such as blueberries, citrus, and tomatoes, with most of the production going to export markets such as the EU and the UK.
According to a recent USDA report cited by Fresh Plaza, Morocco became the world's XNUMX fruit exporter by value in 2021.
The country's fruit exports doubled from $729 million (MAD 7.8 billion) in 2016 to $1.5 billion (MAD 16 billion) in 2021, thanks to increased berry production. Last year, Morocco exported more than 40,000 tons of blueberries, 85,000 tons of strawberries and 40,000 tons of raspberries.
Source: Blueberries Consulting
Blueberries Consulting is part of the global network of Italian Berry
Photo: Freshuelva
