Logroño, (EFE).- La Rioja winegrowers demand prices for their grapes that are not below production costs, therefore, compliance with the Food Chain Law in this regard, agricultural organizations reported on Monday ARAG-Asaja, UAGR and UPA.
ARAG-Asaja, in a note, has requested that “the grape purchase-sale transactions that take place this next vintage comply with the current regulations of the Food Chain Law”.
He has asked that they be carried out through contracts, that they reflect the price above production costs, and detail the payment term, so that it can be demonstrated that the minimum reference price is guaranteed for the operations that are on the table .
Along the same lines, the UAGR, in a statement, has requested that “compliance with the Food Chain Law be ensured, contracts be registered, as is mandatory, and always above production costs.”
The winegrowers of the Qualified Designation of Origin (DOCa-Rioja) “reduce their production campaign after campaign, but their effort is not always rewarded with prices that exceed production costs,” he specified.
This organization has added that “there are wineries that flagrantly violate the Food Chain Law by paying around or below 70 cents per kilo of grapes, the average cost of production for the 2021 campaign.”
Along the same lines, the UPA of La Rioja, in a note, has also demanded compliance with the aforementioned regulations in all Rioja operations, after learning that “some winery has communicated to its winegrowers the purchase of grapes at 40 cents to the 2023 campaign, 30 cents below production costs”.
UPA has recalled that this regulation regulates that the price of the grape must be higher than the production costs and has urged the Ministry of Agriculture, as responsible for ensuring compliance with the Chain Law, to ensure that all wineries pay above cost.
The three organizations have reminded the Government of La Rioja that the 15 million euros announced as direct anti-crisis aid to the wine sector are not enough to solve the current problem and they hope that they will not translate into a distribution of money between wineries.