Almeria veg exporters are beating the Russian veto

ALMERIA veg exports have not only managed to survive the Russian veto but have in fact increased over the last few months according to new figures released last week.

The secret, exporters have discovered, is to branch out into new markets while taking care of the existing ones, as found by 80 companies in the province that have made the most of business opportunity searches launched over the last year by the Andalucian Exterior Promotion Agency (Extenda).

The searches helped increase customers in countries already on the client lists and add new countries including China, Japan, Chile and Honduras.

Programmes of this type have managed to compensate for losses from closure of borders in Russia and, in fact, data on the first six months of the year released last week by FEPEZ Fruit and Vegetable Export Federation revealed a 1.4 per cent increase in vegetable exports.

Tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers maintained their sales figures while courgettes increased theirs by 57 per cent, the report revealed.