German Purchases of Moroccan Tomatoes Increase by 73%

Morocco’s agricultural exports to Europe are continuing to increase, including in Germany, which saw its purchases of Moroccan tomatoes increase by 73.16% in the past five years.

Meanwhile, Germany’s purchases of tomatoes from Spain and the Netherlands decreased by 19% and 26.3% respectively compared to 2018, agriculture-focused outlet FreshPlaza reported.

Last year, Germany imported over 633 million kilograms of tomatoes, with the Netherlands being the main supplier with a volume of nearly 293 million kilograms.

Meanwhile, Germany’s imports of Spanish tomatoes amounted to over 152 kilograms.

“Morocco is still the German market’s third tomato supplier after having sold 70.65 million kilos to this destination in 2022,” the news outlet added.
Morocco’s increasingly dominant position in the European market continues to be a concern among European producers.

In May, European tomato suppliers from Portugal, Italy, France, and Spain, held a meeting to discuss the growth in Morocco’s tomato exports.

“The uncontrolled growth of tomato imports from Morocco and the Community’s policies regarding plant health and packaging, derived from the Farm to Table strategy, threaten Community tomato production,” FreshPlaza quoted the group as saying.

The group warned that Morocco’s tomato exports growth moved from over 365,000 tonnes in 2021 to more than 557,000 tonnes in 2022.

The European producers were not the only ones to express concerns about the situation. 

Local customers in Morocco also expressed frustration over growing Moroccan exports amid skyrocketing prices in local markets.

In response, many have been calling on the government to halt vegetable and fruit exports to help ease pressure on Moroccans’ purchasing power amid the inflation crisis.