Spain: Veg prices increasing

Most vegetables, as well as watermelons and melons, have seen their average prices at origin increase during the 2014/2015 marketing year compared with those obtained in the previous campaign, according to data processed by Hortoinfo and supplied by the Prices and Markets Observatory of the Government of Andalusia.

The greatest increase has been registered in the price of green courgette, which has gone from an average price of 0.45 euros per kilo in the 2013/2014 campaign to 0.85 euros in the campaign that has just finished; a 88.89 percent growth.

The product with the second greatest increase in average prices are Cantaloupe melons, which have gone from 0.32 euros per kilo last year to 0.57 in the 2014/2015 campaign; this is a 78.13 percent increase in its average price.

Also noteworthy in third place is the price increase of French cucumbers, up 77.42 percent after going from 0.31 euros per kilo in the 2013/2014 season to an average of 0.55 euros in the 2014/2015 campaign.

Different tomato varieties have shown an uneven performance. Smooth tomatoes have gone from 0.43 euros per kilo to 0.56 (+30.23%); ribbed tomatoes from 0.87 to 0.96 euros per kilo (+10.34% ); the long life have registered an 8.16 percent increase, from 0.49 to 0.53 euros per kilo, and on the vine tomatoes have gone from 0.59 to 0.60 euros per kilo (+1.69%). Meanwhile, the price of cherry tomatoes on the vine has dropped by 6.06 percent, from 0.99 euros per kilo in the 2013/2014 campaign to 0.93 euros in the 2014/2015 season. Round cherry tomatoes have fallen from 1.03 euros per kilo to 0.97 (-5.83%); pear tomatoes have dropped from an average price of 0.49 to 0.47 euros per kilo (-4.08%) and pear cherry tomato prices are down 3.51 percent, from 1.14 euros per kilo in the 2013/2014 campaign to 1.10 €/kg in the 2014/2015 season.

Lamuyo green peppers have registered a slight increase (+8.33%), from 0.60 to 0.65 euros per kilo.

The price of Lamuyo red peppers has grown from 0.70 to 0.89 euros per kilo (+27.14%); green bell pepper prices remained virtually unchanged, with an increase from 0.65 to 0.66 euros per kilo (+1.54%); red bell peppers have gone from 0.71 to 0.78 euros per kilo (+9.86%); yellow bell peppers have dropped from 0.85 to 0.81 euros per kilo (-4.71%) and the Italian variety has gone from 0.62 to 0.82 euros per kilo, an increase of 32.26 percent.

While French cucumber prices have increased by 77.42 percent, the short variety has become 35.9 percent more expensive, going from 0.39 euros per kilo in the 2013/2014 campaign to an average of 0.53 euros per kilo in the 2014/2015 season.

On the opposite side, long cucumbers (Dutch type or Almeria) have registered a 6.12 percent drop in their average price, as they have been sold for an average of 0.46 euros per kilo in the 2014/2015 campaign compared with € 0.49 per kilo in the previous season.

Aubergines present a different situation. While the striped variety has gone from an average of 0.63 euros per kilo in the 2013/2014 season to 0.81 €/kilo in 2014/2015 (+28.57%), the long variety has dropped from 0.53 to 0.44 euros per kilo (-16.98 percent).

Green beans have seen their average prices increase from the 2013/2014 to the 2014/2015 campaign. Flat green beans have gone from 1.22 to 1.53 euros per kilo (+25.41%) and the average price of the round variety has grown from 1.70 to 2.14 euros per kilo (+25.88 percent).

Yellow melons has seen their average price grow from 0.40 euros per kilo in the 2013/2014 campaign to 0.44 euros in the recently finished season, an increase of 10 percent. As stated above, the Cantaloupe variety has become 78.13 percent more expensive. The Piel de Sapo has increased from 0.39 to 0.47 euros per kilo (20.51%), while Galia is down by 4.55 percent, from 0.44 to 0.42 euros per kilo.

The price of black watermelons with seeds has increased from 0.30 to 0.44 euros per kilo (+46.67%); the black seedless has gone from 0.35 to 0.43 euros per kilo (+22.86%) and the average price at origin of striped watermelons has grown from an average of 0.32 euros per kilo in the 2013/2014 campaign to 0.41 euros/kilo in the 2014/2015 season, a 28.13 percent increase.