Álvaro briefly told us his story:
I am a veterinarian food scientist. In my family all are engineers. Changing my pace caught my attention and I have always liked observing the environment, learning and, since I was 16 years old, I have always been attracted to food. To do so, I had different options and, at the time, Veterinary Medicine was the career that I thought was the most appropriate.
To study the degree I had to leave Seville. I went to Córdoba, a university and city marked by “agro” and the origin of many professionals in the current scene. I have always liked food safety and I was lucky to have good professors and teachers. Despite the fact that my beginnings were not in organic production, working in other production systems and in other entities led me to organic production and Ecovalia out of conviction.
How did you start in the organic world?
I was in Huelva as a quality inspection veterinarian, a province that welcomed me extraordinarily well, both its farmers and colleagues. There I was lucky to learn a lot about the field and its professionals. It was a small entity and everything had to be done, an opportunity that I was able to take advantage of and that I am very happy about. After several years there, Paco Casero called me with an exciting project and a young and dynamic team, in which organic animal production was beginning to stand out. They say that the entities are a faithful reflection of those who direct them and in the case of Paco it has been so, that is why I did not hesitate to get on the bandwagon. And it’s been almost 20 years now.
Can you tell us a little about the history of Ecovalia?
Ecovalia, the Spanish professional association of organic production, was born in 1991, so it already has more than 30 years of experience. The beginnings were not easy: a few hectares, a few pioneers, misunderstood most of the time. Years in which Ecovalia promoted and supported these first steps with few resources. They were the beginnings of many experiments, a lot of training, few means, but a lot of imagination.
Currently, Ecovalia has a social mass of more than 17,000 producers, farmers, ranchers, industries, processors and processors. Our main objective is to continue betting on organic production, because it has strong arguments that position it as the most effective tool and the only regulated production system that contributes to mitigation and adaptation to climate change.
What do you think are the biggest opportunities facing the organic sector?
The sector is in full growth both internationally and nationally. Spain closed 2022 accounting for a total of 2.7 million hectares of organic area, which means that approximately 10.79% of the useful agricultural area of the Spanish territory was organic. This means that to reach the 25% set by the European Union for 2030, our country will have to add more than four million hectares in the coming years.
In the last Ecovalia report, in the 2023 report, we have reflected that during the year 2022 the increase in consumer prices in the conventional basket has been 8.7%, compared to the organic one, which has been 7.3% ; we are talking about almost 1.5% less in the organic sector.
And what do you think are the biggest challenges?
The biggest challenge must be to increase consumption: for consumption to converge with Europe. At Ecovalia we have assumed the responsibility of working for the ecological sector in Spain and we have set ourselves the goal that by the year 2030 we will reach levels in our environment. We are talking about 7,000 million euros more or, what is the same, reaching 10% in consumption in our country.
To achieve this goal, Ecovalia has two lines of work: to ensure that 20% of public purchases are ecological, as established in the European Action Plan; and the reduction of VAT on organic products for their contribution to society. In addition, Ecovalia has obtained a European Promotion Plan, endowed with more than 1,500,000 euros. The main objective of this is to improve the competitiveness of the organic farming sector in the European Union, increasing awareness and recognition of the European organic certification seal, and the quality regime that it represents. The European Commission is betting on the promotion of organic production and, in Spain, it is doing it hand in hand with Ecovalia.
What do you think can be done to educate consumers about the importance of going green?
Public opinion is becoming more favourable, above all, because more and more people are aware of the benefits of organic food. During the pandemic, the organic production sector offered its contribution to the generation of safe, healthy foods that provide benefits for people. Faced with this health crisis, society took refuge in organic production and this is very positive.
What role should small and medium-sized companies play in the development of ecological products?
Their role is very important, not only because of the backbone they represent in the territory, but also because of their size, the organic sector offers them profitability that they could not achieve in the conventional one.
How do you see the evolution of your business channel?
The sector in general continues to grow year after year. However, it is necessary to continue influencing the promotion and knowledge of the multiple benefits that the consumption of organic products has for people’s health and for the environment. And this is a task for everyone, for administrations and associations, but also for all agents in the agri-food sector. We have to influence the end of the chain, as well as restoration.
What do you think will be the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the future of organic consumption?
During the pandemic, the organic production sector contributed to the generation of safe, healthy food that brings benefits to people. During the health crisis caused by COVID 19, the sector lived up to it and responded to the needs of society, reaching a growth in turnover during the first half of 2020 of up to 35%, a figure that shows the interest growing population due to the consumption of organic products.
Because of them, we believe that organic farming is a resilient production system that knows how to face moments of crisis and that knows how to adapt to adversity to continue responding to consumer demand.
Do you have plans, news, news that you want us to tell?
Ecovalia, together with Agrobio, is immersed in the promotional campaign ‘The future is at your table with the green leaf’.
This initiative aims to promote the consumption of European organic food in Spain and Portugal and increase recognition of the European organic certification seal. The Euroleaf guarantees that the products that are put on the market with this distinctive comply with all the requirements established by the regulations of this productive system, common to all the Member States of the European Union.
The campaign, which has a budget of more than 1,500,000 euros, will take place during 2023 and 2024 and includes a broad program of activities aimed at consumers, professionals, schools and opinion leaders.
On the other hand, we are also in the midst of organizing the European Ecological Congress in Spain, which will be held from September 26 to 28 in Córdoba, coinciding with the Spanish presidency of the European Union during the second half of this year.
The post Entrevista a Álvaro Barrera Fernández – Presidente de Ecovalia appeared first on Organic Food Iberia.
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