The Association of Producers and Exporters of the Strawberry of Huelva, Freshuelva, has warned today of the "serious consequences" that the sector of the red fruits of the province is suffering from the excessive increase in production costs and that can make it very difficult your profitability during the campaign.

Freshuelva has detailed that the producers this year find that they have to face costs that have shot up to almost impossible levels with increases of 20% in plants, 150% in fertilizers, 33% of water or of 46% in plastics, although the increases affecting diesel used by tractors (+ 73%) and electricity (+ 270%) are even more spectacular. Added to this are the labor and social-health costs derived from the pandemic, which have increased by almost 30% in the last three years.

In this sense, it has justified and supported the mobilizations called in the field, since, in addition, the increase in food prices that consumers are facing “does not affect farmers, the first link in the food chain, which they see how their losses increase when they do not even cover production costs with sales, at certain times during the campaign ".

That is why Freshuelva has called on the administrations for "effective measures" to reverse this situation in order "for farmers to have prices that allow them to live with dignity from their farms", while calling on large surfaces to bet on local products and at prices that are fair for producers and consumers ”.

At this point, Freshuelva has shown its "concern" that this situation of increased costs "is taken advantage of by third countries that sell in Europe without the need to pay tariffs and with much lower production costs, causing unfair competition in the markets. ", Which is why they have warned the large supermarkets of the" importance "of betting on local productions to" be able to overcome this serious problem between all parts of the food chain "; At the same time, they have demanded measures from administrations that favor this consumption on dates as important as these.