Morocco's fresh produce industry, through FIFEL, has welcomed the government's plan to create fresh produce marketing companies. Last Friday, Minister of Economy and Finance Fouzi Lekjaa told the House of Representatives' Finance and Economic Development Committee that the government intends to set up six regional companies for aggregation and marketing in the country's main agricultural basins, under the Generation Green 2020-2030 strategy.

Zakaria Hanich, president of FIFEL, Moroccan Interprofessional Federation of Fruit and Vegetable Production and Export, says the sector supports the announcement. "This is a proposal we have been defending for a very long time, so we receive it with enthusiasm." The measure is expected to reduce the number of intermediaries, narrow price differences between regional markets and curb the excessive margins taken between growers and final consumers. "We were sometimes shocked to see the price differences between the Inezgane wholesale market, which supplies the other regional markets, and the final price paid by a consumer in Casablanca or Rabat, for example. So we advocated for regulating the distribution channel."

The industry, however, has yet to see the details. "We don't yet have the details of how this regulation is designed and will be implemented," Hanich says. "We understand the government will soon call us in to discuss its implementation. The presence of growers in the initial stages of its design is essential, and we of course have our own conception of how the distribution channel should be reformed."

The federation's main concern is the gap between wholesale market prices, which can become unbearable for consumers when certain products are in short supply. According to Hanich, prices at regional wholesale markets can reach double or even triple those at Inezgane, which receives the bulk of fresh produce. This fuels consumer dissatisfaction, and exports are often blamed. Hanich argues that regulation should rest on capping intermediaries' margins and reducing their number. "Setting up distribution companies should bring more transparency to fresh produce pricing, for consumers but also for consumer rights associations," he adds.

He cautions against overestimating the measure's reach. "It cannot impact growers' costs, and it should not be misunderstood as doing so," he says. "The real issue is the cost of the product by the time it reaches the consumer, and the price differences between markets, which need to be regulated."

Source - https://www.freshplaza.com