Almeria consolidates export position under quality stamp

摘要

Spain's most concentrated growing province aims to put bad UK press reports to bed this year through the heavy promotion of the Guarantee Securitam initiative. Gill McShane visited Almeria to find out more. IN the last two years Guarantee Securitam -the quality label set up in 2003 to promote good agricultural practices among select Almerfan growers - has made steady progress in achieving brand recognition on key markets. This year, the group of 16 grower-exporters is aiming to further raise consumer awareness, with particular attention paid to the UK market following a spate of bad press citing worker safety and environmental infringements. To date, the response from German retailers has been encouraging, accordingto Uwe SchwieSelmann, secretary of Coexphal, Almerfa's fresh produce export body, but UK groups could still do more to raise the brand image. "Germany has taken on board our campaign in earnest whereas UK retailers have been somewhat restrictive, as they prefer to promote their own brand labels rather than our quality stamp," he explains. With this in mind, growers are considering lobbying UK supermarkets in order to convince them of the stamp's benefits to sales and demand, accordingto one Guarantee Securitam member.