Jon-Bxl

Interesting... Imported food is often kept in weird environments to survive the long and expensive journeys.

​​​​​​Buying local has to be so much better.... And fresher...

Ill make a note to check the origin...when I shop

Hmmm.. guacamole with my margaritas..... getting close to heaven.

Jon

spainrico

Mercadona does the same - import lemons and grapes from South America, how can they justify that?

Jon-Bxl

WOT! I never realised this - and truthfully I never really thought to check the origin of stuff I thought would be local!

I'm still learning in my retirement!!!

Crazy... It must be so much cheaper to do this... With supermarket buying power, one would think its best to go local ....

But even with inflation crises, I'll pay a bit more for local food even in a supermarket....

Jon

spainrico

Yes, it is sad but true...Carrefour also - why they ship stuff from literally 1000s of miles away is truly strange. I would love to understand their thinking - anybody got any contacts within these organisations who can explain it?

Mark604

Because it's cheaper, or not available locally, or out of season locally, or they want more than can be supplied locally, or better quality elsewhere.
Can't think of any other reasons.

Moses2013

Exactly and it's never really been different for decades. Best example is Lidl and here in Ireland I bought Catalan sausage that was cheaper here than in Spain. Sometimes it's oversupply and then it might be brands that are unknown and want cheap marketing by selling it cheap and getting the product out there. It might be cheaper to sell a shipload abroad rather than selling to individual supermarkets and so on.

spainrico

I think we should all be prepared to give up the option of having everything available 12 months a year...and let's face it - if it is not on the shelf we could just pick up what is - no strawberries - buy blueberries or whatever...and IMO all this forced growing means a big compromise in taste and quality.

Retired in Euskadi

I think it always pays to write a letter to these companies. They do take note because so few people write these days....I mean a "proper" letter, biro or pen & ink!
I always remember our local Shropshire MP, John Biffen, who told me that a letter to an MP is worth a thousand votes.
Regarding labelling, there is usually too much writing of which a lot is useless information. But for example, Eroski sell packs of beans, lentils or garbanzos (sorry, chickpeas), whose origin is the USA. Obviously they are buying from the cheapest source, which in many cases is unsustainable. But who the hell notices? Very few people.

Retired in Euskadi

Too true.
I mean, strawberries in January, almost certainly from Huelva and equally certainly tasteless. What's the point?

growinspain

There is big fuss in the Valencian communidad about importing south african oranges...

UKMS

Many companies dont even publish a postal address or if they do its hard to find.


He would have done, in his era carrier pidgeon was more fashionable

I dont subscribe to the view that the cheapest source overseas is unsustainable, what is often unsustainable are the 'local' sources simply because of demand (as has been mentioned above) consumers are primarily to blame IMHO wanting everything on demand all year round for many products rather than accepting alternatives (again as has been mentioned above). Also local means different things to different people. For me local means locally sourced close to where I am staying / living, from a local farm or producer.

DLC

The chances are they're making up for a shortfall in Spanish products. It has been an incredibly crappy harvest in Spain this year, the next year doesn't bode well either due to droughts, and high energy bills are causing farms to close down for good.

Retired in Euskadi

Companies addresses are not difficult to find on the web
John Biffen told me trhat in the 1990's; thankfully communication was more reliable than the likes of Twitter.
Yes, companies say consumers want all year round, but I bet they haven't asked them. They just provide to sell more and spread their costs.

SanNico

I have an avocado tree in Italy. For years I watered it religiously and get some pretty decent fruit from it. I went back after 18 months of zero maintenance and found the best fruit ever. My neighbour told me a mature tree should never need watering, but he also said avocado wouldn't grow in Italy...

The one that really gets me is the bananas. The Canarian variety are 3 times the cost of whatever they import from elsewhere. Maybe that's where their IVA subsidy comes from.