2023-08-27 21:32:07
They announced it prudently yesterday, insisting that nothing has been done yet but aware that they are opening pathways so that in three weeks the absolute lack of potatoes, which could last until December, is halved around mid-September. The talks started by the importers of this tuber in recent days to minimize the closure of the English market due to a Colorado beetle infestation give us hope. “Now, tomorrow nobody thinks that they are going to find them on the market for less than three euros per kilo,” warned the president of the Association of Potato Distributors of Gran Canaria (Adipa), Juan Luis Pulido.
This businessman, who has been in the business for more than 50 years, is concerned about supplying citizens, aware of the paramount importance that this tuber has on the Canarian menu, but even more so about the immediate future of its workers. Around a thousand jobs are at stake in this crisis.
The arrival of shipments since mid-September allows parking the ERTE that were being prepared
“They are people who have been with me for many years, who have children, how am I going to tell them to go home?” regretted at the time of the outbreak of the crisis. Yesterday afternoon, he breathed easier at the possibility of reaching a solution.
Although this is partial, the entry of potatoes will allow the twenty companies that operate in the Islands to continue with a level of activity that allows minimize retraining or even dispense with temporary employment regulation files (ERTE).
“If the potatoes arrive around September 15, for twenty days no one is ruined. We will dedicate ourselves to reorganizing or painting the warehouse, we’ll see, “ Pulido breathed at the possibility of not having to do without any of his workers immediately.
prudent hope
That hope was truffled with several “We are on the right way” They came to make it clear that the talks with foreign producers are progressing positively but have not yet entered the phase of being formalized by signing the mandatory contracts.
Scotland and Northern Ireland appear as main possibilities to be able to bring imported potatoes that manage to avoid – “only 50%, we don’t think more”, insisted the president of Adipa – the total absence of the tuber until well into December. The improvement is evident because that was the only possibility that appeared on the horizon until Saturday afternoon. “And if we can scratch something in Egypt, too,” added Juan Luis Pulido. Denmark is another of the places explored, but “before two months they will not send.”
The new ‘routes’ avoid only 50% of the problem
Another thing is the price. The shortage that the autonomous community is facing has not gone unnoticed by the markets, that they will try to exploit that weakness to make the product more expensive. “Everyone wants to take advantage of their moment, but as long as they don’t leave too much,” said the president of the potato importers.
Therefore, there will be no cheap potatoes until the local production begins to be harvested and other places to promote stabilization. In any case, if the solution pointed out yesterday by Pulido crystallizes, it will prevent consumers from having to assume exorbitant costs.
Adipa sounded the alarm at the end of last week. On Thursday, the Ministry of Agriculture closed the potato trade with England. Since the beginning of the year, the authorities of that country have been fighting to control a Colorado beetle infestation reported by the European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organization (Eppo).
England has been fighting the plague since the beginning of this year
The measures adopted have not served to put an end to the proliferation of a beetle that could cause serious damage to the Canary Islands in case the importation of English potatoes was maintained. That is why the British Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) informed the Spanish authorities of the seriousness of the situation.
The problem is that the closure of this commercial line has come at a time when local production is practically non-existent. It will be planted again next month and it will not be until December or January when the Canarian countryside becomes relevant in the supply of this product. The same goes for alternative markets such as Israel. Hence the many complications in the search for solutions.
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