- This is what emerges from the study of stone fruit production costs corresponding to the 2023 campaign, drawn up by the Department, together with IRTA’s CREDA and the UPC, and presented today in Lleida
- This study of production costs, as well as the one presented yesterday in relation to grapes , aims to bring greater transparency to the food chain
- New studies on other products will be developed soon, and the information will be updated annually
The Secretary of Food of the Department of Climate Action, Food and Rural Agenda, Carmel Mòdol, accompanied by the general director of Agri-Food Companies, Quality and Gastronomy, Joan Gòdia, and together with the director of the Center for AgroFood Economics and Development (CREDA), José María Gil, presented this afternoon, at the Department’s headquarters in Lleida, the study of stone fruit production costs corresponding to the 2023 campaign, which the Department prepared jointly with CREDA.
The Secretary of Food has emphasized the importance of this data with the aim of bringing transparency to the food chain so that all links have an official estimate of the cost of producing a kilo of stone fruit, in the bet of the Department to provide tools that favor a fair and decent price for the producer and fight against the precariousness of their work, contributing to their economic sustainability, and in return also fighting against food waste.
Mòdol has highlighted that this study of production costs, the second after the one presented yesterday in relation to grapes, which will be followed by others relating to other products and whose information will be updated annually, is “a new sign that the Department works hand in hand with agri-food producers, agricultural organizations, and the world of research to provide the market with more tools and greater transparency“.
Carmel Mòdol recalled that the Congress of Deputies approved a food chain law that the Department considered insufficient: “we wanted by law the official bodies involved to publish annually the cost of food production so that everyone would know, all the links of the chain and the consumer included, and thus avoid making the farmer’s job precarious“.
For his part, the director of CREDA, José María Gil, has noted the increase of around 27% in the cost of stone fruit production both per hectare and per kilo between the average of the period 2016-2021 and 2023, without taking into account the parenthesis of such an atypical year as 2022 following the frosts.
The stone fruit production cost study presents the results of the cost estimation for peach and nectarine, with information available regarding the harvest forecast to July 3, 2023. Thus, the estimated production cost for for the farmer it would be on average €0.409/kg, with a fork between the minimum cost, €0.387/kg, and the maximum, €0.431/kg; data that serves as a guide to determine approximate reference costs taking into account the production of each farm and the expenses inherent in the characteristics of each campaign. And if family labor expenditure and the cost of making are taken into account, the production cost would rise to €0.992/kg, with a fork between the minimum and maximum cost of €0.899/kg in €1.105/kg.
