German Produce Market Shifts: Moroccan Tomato Imports Surge as Spanish Sales Decline

Imports of Moroccan tomatoes to Germany have increased by 73% since 2018. In 2022, Spain sold 152 million kilos of tomatoes to Germany, for a total of 348 million euros. At the same time, Morocco sold 70 million kilos at a slightly lower price than Spanish producers. This increase in Moroccan tomato sales coincides with a decrease in Spanish tomato sales.

The situation seems to be complicating for Spanish producers. Morocco is considering transforming a desert area of the Sahara into a large tomato and other fruit production center, which could represent a threat to the Spanish tomato industry, warns the local press.

In 2022, the Moroccan tomato surpassed the Spanish tomato in terms of sales with a total of 558 million kilos, compared to 513 million for Spain. This increase is largely due to the intensive production of tomatoes in the Sahara, where production costs are much lower than in Spain, particularly in terms of taxation and wages.

The Huelva strawberry industry is also facing a boycott campaign led by the German organization Campact, which has received the support of the Spanish government and accuses the producers of contributing to the drying up of the Doñana National Park. This campaign has received the support of more than 140,000 Germans and calls on supermarkets such as Lidl or Edeka not to buy strawberries from this Spanish province. This campaign threatens Huelva’s strawberry exports to Germany, which totaled 71 million kilos and 167 million euros in 2022. Meanwhile, the Moroccan strawberry continues to weave its web in Europe with a historic record in 2022 for exports.