2023-08-30 00:29:55
The carob campaign has started with little optimism due to the fall in the price of this product. From the almost two euros that were paid in the last two years, the price has now fallen to 30-35 cents. “These are somewhat fair and ruinous prices,” says the head of the Unió de Pagesos carob shop, Jordi Castellnou. Farmers say this year’s harvest will be good, although the fruit will be thinner and weigh less. They are also worried about the drought, which has left the trees “exhausted”. In addition, if it doesn’t rain in the next few days, they warn that there will be no harvest next year because the carob trees take the sample for the next season during this period.
Farmers started harvesting the carobs last week and they anticipate a slightly lower production compared to last year. Castellnou estimates that they will collect between 40 and 45 tons of carobs on their farms. In the previous campaign, they harvested around 50. “In the whole of Catalonia, we are talking about 50% or 60% of a very good production”, he indicates.
In the case of the Comercial Garrofa company, a group of first-rate associated cooperatives from the demarcation of Tarragona and Castelló, located in Mont-roig del Camp, they expect to reach 4.5 million kilos. “We counted around four, like last year, but now we think we’ll be around 4.5, which is a little more than last year, but not too much more. We do between three and we’ve reached seven , we are now far from a record harvest,” explains its manager, Francesc Xavier Cort. Point out that the drought situation has caused the harvest forecasts to be between 10% and 20% less compared to the previous campaign.
From “exorbitant” to “ruinous” prices
Two years ago, the price of the carob reached 1.80 euros. Last year, the campaign started at 1.50 euros. “It was a very good price so that the farmer could make a decent living, and now we are talking about prices of between 30 and 35 cents, which are somewhat ruinous prices,” regrets Castellnou, who also emphasizes that production costs are have increased in recent years, with the increase in the price of fertilizers and phytosanitary products, among others.
For his part, Cort considers that the prices of the last two years have been “exorbitant” and remarks that “they had never been seen”. The manager explains that the food companies, which are the ones that consume the carob gum, they started buying the product to build up stocks following the increase in prices. This, he claims, meant that the more they bought, the more the price went up.
“Now, they have reduced the consumption of carob and from being the first in quantity, it is now the last. This has caused the consumption to drop a lot and at a time when they have the highest stocks because out of fear they had been buying more than they were actually spending, so they wouldn’t go without,” he says. Despite this, he trusts that the companies will buy again from this autumn. Both Cort and Castellnou hope that prices will not take a decade to recover. In addition, the Union of Farmers points out that a “decent” price would be around 80 cents.
In parallel, Castellnou affirms that farmers are unhappy with the operation of the Reus Market and, for this reason, the union has decided not to attend the first day of price fixing. “Two carnation buyers sit there and put the price they want; it doesn’t work the way it should, we don’t see it as right,” he complains. That’s why, he says, they will continue to fight for a fair price.
Waiting for the rains
According to Castellnou, the carob trees “endure a lot” of the drought. However, he assures that the lack of rain has exhausted them. If it doesn’t rain soon, next year’s campaign is not guaranteed, as this is when flowering occurs. “The drought has caused a decrease of between 10% and 20% in carob weight, but the quality will be better, because the drier the carob, the higher the quality. The chopping also comes out better quality, but with less weight,” emphasizes Cort.
In recent years, carob thefts have been one of the main headaches for farmers. Despite the drop in prices of this product, the Union of Farmers believes that it will continue to happen, due to the fact that they are “very easy” to collect and steal. “They enter our farms, brazenly in vans and fold the carnations, we can’t do much more than report and raid with the Mossos”, says Castellnou.
After meeting with the police force, the farmer says that the Mossos have committed to maintaining controls both on the roads and in the warehouses. In the case of the Mont-roig cooperative, they have also suffered thefts and their manager is confident that thefts will decrease this campaign following the drop in prices. “These last few years had been a scandal, there were organized mafias,” he adds.
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