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The Spanish government has passes new legislation that is aimed at protecting the country’s beleaguered farmers, amidst growing protests. Under the new law, passed at the end of February, retailers and wholesalers who sell agricultural products at below-cost prices will face fines of up to €1 million. The new measures also mean that production costs must be taken into account in contractual relationships to ensure that prices of fruits and vegetable don’t fall below what they cost to produce.

There has naturally been a surge in home-cooking in Spain since the lockdown was imposed to combat the coronavirus outbreak. This has led to a 30% increase in demand on the domestic market for vegetables, with prices of some products such as aubergines, courgettes and peppers soaring in the past week. Aubergine producers were receiving €0.10/kg until recently, but the price has now gone up to €1/kg, while courgette prices have jumped from €0.30/kg to €1/kg and Italian peppers are up from €1.60/kg to €2.20/kg,

Photo credit: www.newtownabbeytoday.co.uk /// Article source: Retail Gazette

The Food Warehouse has entered Northern Ireland for the first time with the opening of a flagship in County Antrim that has created 30 new jobs.

6 April 2020, Press release

Amid the global outbreak of COVID-19, the world citrus community has stepped up its efforts to ensure the continuous supply of safe, healthy, and high-quality citrus fruit for consumers around the world. The global citrus sector has focused on ensuring the protection of workers across the chain, keeping global citrus production and supply going, and making sure that consumers have access to citrus fruit, essential for a nutritious and tasty diet.

Press release

The International Blueberry Organization’s (IBO) 2020 Summit, which was set to take place in Trujillo, Peru between August 10 and 12, 2020, has officially been rescheduled in light of the Covid-19 (coronavirus) pandemic. The event will now be held in the same location between August 22 and 25, 2021.

The Assembly of European Fruit, Vegetable and Horticultural Regions (AREFLH) has called on EU Commission President Von der Leyen to implement exceptional measures to respond to the consequences of the coronavirus health crisis.

Numerous member regions and their producer organisations met by videoconference on Wednesday 25 March to prepare a joint document to request the establishment of support measures for European producers of fruits and vegetables.

Aldi UK has announced that it is to relax shopping restrictions for a series of products that were previously being rationed at its UK stores. The discounter, which has recorded an 11% jump in sales in the past month, had limited customers to four of every product after panic-buying in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Products such as fresh fruit and vegetables and meat will no longer be rationed for shoppers.