Costes de producción y exportación de tomate en Canarias

Abstract

In this paper the recent evolution of the cultivation, package and marketing costs of the Canarian tomatoes exported to Europe is examined. Canarian producers have carried out an important effort that has contributed to the increment of the yields by plant and, simul-taneously, an elevation of the area unit costs, in such a way that the cultivation costs by pro-duct unit have approximately kept stable, althougt have always been located at a higher level of those supported by Moroccan producers. On the other hand, the necessity to improve the quality and the high cost of labour have encouraged a maketing association process that has enabled the producers to carry out expensive investments in the package systems. So, the biggest exporter firms have obtained noticeable reduction of costs by box with regard to the smallest exporter companies. This association process has also allowed the Canarian suppliers to practise a greater control on certain links of the marketing chains in destination countries. However, the high cost of freights corresponding to sea transport means a heavy ballast for Canarian exporters. In fact, these costs are the main factor of competitive disad-vantage with regard to Iberian Peninsula suppliers. In these circumstances, I conclude that Canarian producers should not look for competiti-veness by way of the reduction of costs. On the opposite, quality differentiation appears like the appropiate element to build a competitive strategy.