Hello hello
Here in Valencia today I woke up early as always.
Today I want to tell you about something that may not be visible from the city, but which we notice here every day: I call it the silent blow. It sounds dramatic, but it makes no noise.
It simply saps spirits, euros, and neighbors. It has to do with international competition and how prices are formed when your product competes on the same shelf with others that have been produced under very different rules.
I'll put it very simply for you, even if it's complex...
Imagine a race. We are given a heavily loaded backpack. Inside are the salaries and social security contributions due in Spain, the electricity that has to be paid for irrigation and to move the fruit, the carefully measured and managed water, insurance, paperwork, audits, and a thousand obligations that we fulfill because we believe in doing things well.
And next to us runs someone who doesn't carry the same backpack because in their country, labor costs are much lower and environmental and administrative requirements are fewer. If you only look at the stopwatch at the end, it seems like we are slower. But of course, we don't carry the same weight 🎒
Don't get me wrong. The problem is not the farmer in Morocco or Egypt. They have enough to deal with just to make a living. The problem is that those of us here are measured by one rule, and what comes from outside by another.
They are always there to demand.
To consult, they almost never count on those of us who truly get our hands dirty. Decisions are made far from the field and then arrive like a certified letter.
And meanwhile, you're up to your ears in mud and your computer is asking for another impossible password.
Producing here costs more. That's how it is. Between wages that are what they should be, expensive energy, regulated water, insurance, and bureaucracy, the cost per kilo skyrockets. If the price they want to pay us doesn't recognize that effort, the numbers don't add up.
There are fewer and fewer of us, and we are getting older and older. Not because we don't want to, but because it's hard to tell a young person to get into this if all they hear is that they'll be running with a backpack uphill.
But I won't give up. Not while there are people like you on the other side who truly understand what's behind every box. Because every time you choose our fruit, you're not just getting flavor.
You're getting the early morning wake-up call we make to cut only what you ask for. You're getting hands that prune and thin the old-fashioned way. You're getting a little piece of an orchard that refuses to become a vacant lot.
We will continue to harvest on demand as we do every morning. We will continue to work with other colleagues across Spain so that the price is fair for everyone.
We will continue to tell what is happening, with humor when possible and with truth always.
Come on, the countryside has its blows, yes, but it also has its springs. And as long as there are customers who understand what's behind a tomato or an orange, you'll find us here, with our backpacks well-adjusted and a firm step.
Thank you for being there, for supporting a way of doing things that seems old-fashioned but allows us to sleep soundly.
A big hug and have a great week,
