Tomato: Morocco Dethrones Spain and Becomes Europe’s Absolute King

Since 2022, Spain has officially lost its leading position in the EU market to the kingdom. According to data reported by Infobae, this shift was catalyzed by the agricultural protocol of the partnership agreement with the European Union that came into force in 2012. Juan Jesús Lara, head of the tomato committee at the Spanish exporters’ union (Fepex), notes this major turning point by highlighting that Moroccan shipments have surged 52% since that date. Over the past decade, European imports of Moroccan tomatoes have thus jumped 34%, a proportion identical to the decline recorded by Spanish sales.

On Bladi.net : Agriculture: how Moroccan tomatoes have established themselves as leaders in the European market

This supremacy is confirmed on the financial front with European purchases of fresh or refrigerated Moroccan tomatoes reaching 2.8 billion euros between 2022 and 2024. Figures from Spain’s Ministry of Agriculture reveal even an overall agrifood trade surplus in favor of Rabat for 2024, with 5.2 billion euros in exports to Europe against 3.8 billion euros in imports. Facing this loss of market share, Spanish agricultural unions are alarmed. They argue that Moroccan goods benefit from extremely flexible production and export conditions, far removed from the strict sanitary, social and environmental regulations demanded by Brussels from European producers.