The director general of Agriculture stresses that the association “provides economic muscle, strengthens the companies that form it and pulls the rest of the sector”.

Som Pagesos de Mallorca produced 17 million kilos of local produce from Mallorca in 2022. This is one of the figures that form part of the balance that this association of fruit and vegetable producers of Mallorca, created just over a year ago, has made this Tuesday, together with the director general of Agriculture, Livestock and Rural Development, Fernando Fernández. The total production is valued at more than 17 million euros. 26% of the production has been of watermelon, 20% of tomato, 18% of melon, 11% of courgette and 11% of cucumber, among other products.

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The four partners that makeup Som Pagesos de Mallorca (Agromallorca, Agroilla, Es Merca and Terracor) were present at the press conference, which was given by the manager, Toni Monjo, Isabel Vicens of Agromallorca and the director general of Agriculture. Monjo stressed that “it has been a good year in terms of production, we have been able to recover the trailer of the pandemic, with the two bad years we have spent, 2020 and 2021”. He has also detailed initiatives that have been launched to create links with other economic sectors and strengthen the traceability of the production of the countryside of Mallorca. Thus, agreements have been signed with the catering industry, collaboration with the Hotel Federation is being studied, and the company has already become a member of the Impulsa Foundation. The general director, Fernando Fernández, emphasised that this is a strategic project “that addresses the challenges of Mallorca’s fruit and vegetable sector, concentrating production capacity and supply, which are key to the viability of a strategic sector such as the agri-food sector”. It is, he said, a “project tractor”, which is constituted as an organisation of fruit and vegetable producers, number 10 in Spain.

Isabel Vicens from Agromallorca referred to future challenges, such as generational replacement, lack of personnel, climate change and also the lack of supplies. She also explained that for this winter, they have signed a collaboration agreement with three citrus growers from Mallorca, who represent 80% of the oranges produced in Mallorca. Vicens also explained that they are studying the creation of a logistics and cleaning centre for packaging, which can channel and optimise more efficiently the more than 17 million tonnes of fruit and vegetables produced by the companies that make up Som Pagesos. “Either we adapt or we die, or we get together or we will not be”, he remarked.

Som Pagesos is an initiative of the four largest agri-food producers in Mallorca, with the aim of defending and promoting local, proximity and seasonal produce through its own quality brand. At present, Agromallorca, Agroilla, Terracor and Es Merca are the founding members. This quality brand is a guarantee for consumers that they are buying top quality, seasonal fruit and vegetables produced in Mallorca. It has the support of the Consellería de Agricultura, Pesca y Alimentación, which has granted them a subsidy of 183,000 euros for the development of the project. Som Pagesos also aims to contribute to the local economic balance, to promote sustainable and responsible consumption, and to dignify the work of the farmers.