Camp Mallorquí backed over Carob award

Agricultural cooperatives in the Balearic Islands backed Camp Mallorquí’s attempt to preserve the Carob sector on 19 August, after the company was awarded to a property developer. Cooperatives Agro-alimentàries said it respected and accepted the judicial decision.

The organisation praised Camp Mallorquí’s effort to keep the processing business linked to local producers and the territory. Its president, Jerònima Bonafé, said the cooperative’s proposal could have retained an industry rooted in the islands and focused on carob seed products.

Local processing and added value

Bonafé said Camp Mallorquí’s plan covered the full carob supply chain, from production to processing and marketing. She said this would have helped create added value from a distinctive local product.

She also regretted that businesses handling local produce were being forced into insolvency proceedings, particularly when so few agri-food industries remain in the Balearic Islands.

Pressure on the farming sector

Bonafé said farming in the Balearic Islands faces increasingly difficult conditions because of drought, climate change, pests, higher production costs and falling profitability.

Losing processing capacity would add further pressure to a sector already under strain, she said, reducing its ability to create value and sustain agricultural activity on the islands. Without local processing, farm profitability would deteriorate further and the sector’s future would be at risk.

Topics: Economy

Source: Europa Press / Mallorca.com