09 leaf vegetables in spain

COMPANIES
The Spanish companies control the Spanish bean
The hectares of greenhouses of bean in Morocco are 3,000 and the Spanish companies
control direct or indirect way 60 per cent of the production and surface and 55 per cent
of the foreign trade. The GPA company leads the surface of bean monopolizing
10 per cent of the surface of this crop.
By Rafael I. Losilla
Morocco exported almost 113,000 tons of beans in the year
2009 of which almost 63,000 tons go to Spain, doing of this
the most important destination of the Moroccan producers.
The importance of Spain in Morocco at commercial level
has increased gradually and not only by commercial
relations, but also by investments in production.
ago the first Spanish investors arrived at Morocco with
the intention to develop platforms and productive fields
of beans, based on the high yield of the crop and an
approachable labour. 15 years later, the Spanish companies
control between 55-60 per cent of the production and
surface direct or indirect way and 55 per cent of the foreign
trade.
important companies like Azura, Idyl, Les Domaines or
Agafay have given up gradually this crop and this place
has been taken of direct or indirect way by the Spanish
companies.
The companies
Although the companies of the Hispanic-Moroccan
capital become more and more important in the Moroccan
surface, the GPA company leads the surface of bean in Morocco
with 300 hectares, of which 200 belong to the company and
100 to the partner producers.
The control of the bean in Morocco is diversified and there
are many producers and independent companies with surface
of less than 50 hectares and many small producers that add
less than 2 hectares and that work of free and spontaneous
way, outside plans and commitments.
This situation means 29 per cent of the 3,000 hectares of
bean in Morocco, according to the analysts of seeds consulted
by F&H. The origin of most of these small producers is Morocco.
Spanish capital
The Spanish companies are much organized and look at the
Spanish market as much as at the French one. In fact, the
platforms of Mercamadrid and Mercabarna have become
important markets of the bean of Morocco. Mercabarna receives
directly 12 per cent of the total Moroccan commercial bean and
the case of Mercamadrid is that receives more than 60 per cent
of its bean from North Africa. n
17
Bean percentaje surface in Morocco (2008)
Source: F&H. (1) Estimate.