The export of fruits and vegetables by air to reach the most distant markets and in many cases those willing to pay more for the same product, such as the Arab Emirates, China or Japan, among others, continues to be one of the remaining challenges for the agriculture of Almeria.
To the eternal challenge of supply organization improving competitiveness through logistics can be added. To this end, the Port of Almeria has been working in promoting lines for the shipment of fruits and vegetables to the major European markets, a gamble that has been tried many times before and so far, has never been successful.
On the other hand, there is the possibility of transporting the goods via air, another issue which has remained unsolved for decades, which many businesses, especially cooperatives and high turnover traders, have unsuccessfully attempted to implement.
The main obstacle, according to sources in the horticultural sector of Almeria consulted by the publication Diario de AlmerÃa, is the high airport taxes in Spain, including Almeria. According to those sources, the cost to ship fruits and vegetables by plane is on average around two Euro a kilo, a figure that should be at least 50% lower for it to offer a minimum viability in terms of price, i.e. around or just over one Euro.
The issue is that while there are a number of air carriers willing to have competitive prices for the shipment of goods, a possible downgrade of airport charges is delayed due to the stagnant economic condition in which the government, in need of revenue to continue reducing public debt, can't have income cuts, no matter where this may lie.
While the horticultural sector in Almeria waits for the Executive to move in this direction, which won't be happening in the short term, others do business thanks to their competitive prices.
Such is the case of the Netherlands, that thanks to their strong market selling ornamental plants, has become the real logistics platform, not only for these sensitive products, but also for the fruit and vegetables grown in the European Union, including Almeria.
This central European country has figured out this activity's potential and the government decided, years ago, to subsidize most of the air transport cost, leaving airport taxes for the shipment of goods at a final net price lower than a Euro per kilo; currently, 0.95 Euro per kilo, according to sources within the agricultural sector of Almeria.
Almeria's Chamber of Commerce has held meetings with Clasa (Airport Logistics Centre) as well as with airlines, Spanish airports and universities to measure and compare the needs of the province in terms of shipping fruits and vegetables with other areas where this activity is done more fluently. There have been no advances up to date.
Source: Elalmeria