Not even a year ago, in February 2023, the now former president Ximo Puig presented, surrounded by the sector, the ‘Taronja Valenciana’ campaign, citrus in hand. The campaign, which had the motto “Tria sentiment”, was promoted together with the IGP Cítrics Protegits Regulatory Council, and was developed both in the Valencian Community and in the rest of Spain; with the purpose that, next year (2024) it would also be extended to countries of the European Union. The first two phases had a budget, each of them, of 500,000 euros.
An item that amounts to one million euros and that now La Unió Llauradora and Ramadera, and also the Valencian Agricultural Association, regret that it comes out of the budgets prepared by the current Valencian government to the detriment, they defend, of the agricultural sector. “We believe that it reflected the identity of the Valencians in the campaign and the producers need that promotion,” explains Carles Peris, general secretary of La Unió, an entity that has presented the correction proposal to all the parliamentary groups in Les Corts in the form of an amendment. .
It argues that the “Naranja de València” brand obtained the participation of several supermarket and hypermarket chains (Consum or Carrefour, among others) and that this helped position the local product among consumers. “To maintain and expand this promotion, it is crucial to guarantee its continuity and the continued commitment of the distribution chains that have joined,” adds La Unió.
Peris assures that he has transmitted his discomfort to the Department of Agriculture, now in the hands of Vox, but adds that in the two meetings held to date he has not seen “too much will to recover it.” “It is a very serious mistake,” notes Peris.
The president of AVA-ASAJA, Cristóbal Aguado, also complains about the withdrawal of this aid, who clarifies that the measure must respond to “the budgetary changes made by the Consell due to the economic situation that has been found in the Generalitat.” However, he tells La Vanguardia that “unquestionably not having that million for promotion will be noticed because, at least in the Valencian Community, which is where the most promotion of the PGI has been done, that campaign was very visible and encouraged the consumption”.
The campaign was designed by the Lavernia studio
Faced with the indignation of the agricultural associations, the Department of Agriculture assures that upon reaching the government, the accounts have reflected that only half of said item was executed and they explain that the department, like the rest of the Consell, has made a “readjustment of budget down.” Likewise, they add that it is the Botànic that should have executed that part and they defend that they are not going to repeat “something that has not been executed by the previous Government” because, they understand, “it was not effective.” They also insist that the Valencian public accounts reflect other support for the citrus sector.
However, the Department of Agriculture participated on Monday in the act of cutting the first Nuleta (Geographic Quality Mark of Clemenules de la Plana, certified by the PGI Cítrics Valencians), and the new regional Secretary of Agriculture, Javier, participated in the ceremony. Bartolomé pointed out that “the Ministry supports unity initiatives that value the quality of Valencian citrus fruits and benefit local citrus growers” ??and even added that “this project is an example of the initiatives that can be taken to gain access to the market.” with a top quality product that stands out.”
