The future of exports of Mallorcan potatoes to the United Kingdom is in doubt thanks to Brexit and the long queues truckers have to endure at British ports, according to a report by Humphrey Carter for the Majorca Daily Bulletin.
The current potato export season, which is in its last month, has been described as “better than expected” by growers in Sa Pobla, but “future seasons are in serious danger”, according to the manager of Mateu Export, the municipality’s main exporter.
The main reasons for concerns about the future of the sector, according to Joan Mateu, “are the increase in operating costs, the Brexit and now the war in Ukraine”.
For example, he explained that “now truckers do not want to go to the United Kingdom, not even if they are paid 40 percent more than before Brexit, because of the time it now takes to get in and out of the ports”.
Source: Majorca Daily Bulletin. Full story here
Photo: Sa Pobla is celebrating its annual spud fair this weekend. Credit and courtesy Majorca Daily Bulletin reporter