-Do they have overseas  this poor image of the agriculture sector in Andalusia as we think?

-The commitment within the trade has worked hard on rebuilding  the image of our products and we have certainly made great progress. But it's also true that the last campaign with all this E.coli issue, ran us down.  It took too many days until it was rectified, and this fact destroyed our image.

-Hortyfruta has just run the "We care, You enjoy" campaign, to encourage people to consume fruits and vegetables in the German market among others. The reason is that the consumption decreased after the E.coli issue. Do you think that's enough, even if we know that in most campaigns an alert is detected when the Andalusian production is on the increase?

-I think that a lot of things need to be done, but the thing is that right now and as we know the situation, we must still working just as we are working, and keep on promoting our agriculture. Hortyfruta will be on the alert in case a smear campaign appears to counteract it.

-What steps should be taken when the countries of the EU themselves are the ones attacking the Spanish production?

-Just as I said before, we need to keep on working to demonstrate how we cultivate in Spain, how  we use the resources and how our production is getting better towards sustainability and our natural environment.

-Fruit Logística Berlin Fair is the best showroom to display the quality of the Andalusian fruits and vegetables. Which values of the Andalusian production will people be able to see there?

- Mainly the food safety  and all the controlling that our fruits and vegetables need to approve before they are set on sale. We will also put special emphasis on our great quality, the organoleptic properties of our products and the application of techniques most respectful to our natural environment such as the biological fight in greenhouses. Fruit Logistica 2012 will be really important for the "We care, You enjoy" campaign. Many representatives of the main distribution chains associated to Hortyfruta, the media, and the actress Esther Schweins, image of the campaign will be attending to the  official opening of this fair.

-One of the demands  of this kind of organizations is to attach importance to the inter-trade agreements to solve many of the market's problems. Where would you establish the minimums to be satisfied?

It's a fact, we all know it: farmers can't be over and over the same with the market crisis. It just put the fruit and vegetable market at risk. Hortyfruta has required many times for regulation so that the inter-trade can work properly. They all need  intervention mechanisms, so that with the paticipation of all the agents, they all get benefits from it. No weak or strong extremes but all of them getting reasonable benefits according to the work they carry out and with a clear goal: the customer.

We have almost reached the ratification of the renovation of the agreement on agriculture EU-Marrakech. Thinking of the result as a releasing process and analysing the negative consequences for the Spanish sector,  have you thought of a plan B to mitigate its effects? I mean, like persisting in reciprocity rules...

I guess there won't be a ratification of the renovation of the agreement on agriculture EU-Marrakech, and this is what we are working on now, and still working on it. If the result is not the expected one, we'll fight for the fairest one, and we will report, if necessary, any failure that Marrakech can make. Of course we will demand equality of conditions, because it's not logical that Europe wouldn't ever be accepted with such labor, social and environmental conditions, as well as their plant health requirements that are not  as demanding as ours. It would distort the market.

-What would you say to those that think that Hortyfruta don't have the strenght to fight for this sector?

- I would tell them to think for once in the sector as a whole, how important it is, and all the things that we could achieve by working on the same direction. I don't think that the sector has yet realized how powerful it could be if we all could get to work together.

-How is the integration process of Ecohal going?

As i have already mentioned, one of the most important goals that Hortyfruta has, is to get a wide representation of sectors beyond production and commercialization. Therefore we keep in touch with Ecohal to get them as soon as possible in the inter-trade agreement.

-Do you think that the organizations Coag and Asaja will come back to this organization?

I do believe it's possible that they decide to come back, and I'm working on it. On these hard days for the agriculture sector in Andalusia, it's really important that we fight for our future all together under the name of Hortyfruta.