Tropicán represents more than 1,000 producers looking to capitalise growing demand for their products
More than 1,000 Canary Islands fruit producers have joined forces to boost the islands’ tropical fruit exports. The new organisation, the Association of Tropical and Subtropical Fruit Producer Organisations of the Canary Islands (Tropicán), represents growers belong to seven organisations and companies – Bonnysa, Cocampa, Coplaca, SAT Fruta Tropical del Noroeste, SAT Tejinaste, Garañaña, Unextomates.
At its inaugural ceremony this week, Tropicán presented its president, Francisco José Echandi, and manager, María Gabriela Pérez.
Demand for avocados, papayas, pineapples and mango is growing rapidly, and the islands’ producers believe they have an opportunity to capture a growing share of the market.
Tropicán expands the structure of the islands’ avocado producer organisation Asguacan to include other crops in this subsector, such as papaya, mango, and pineapple.
In recent years, the area dedicated to tropical and subtropical crops has increased significantly in the Canary Islands. Avocado acreage tripled between 2007 and 2023 (from 816ha to 2,484ha), while papaya plantings have increased from 255ha to 414ha in the same period. Production of papayas 22,660 tonnes in 2023, of which more than 40 per cent was exported – 94 per cent to mainland Spain.
Tropicán farmers produced 19,169 tonnes of tropical fruit last year, of which 14,408 tonnes was papaya, 2,770 tonnes avocados, 1,165 tonnes pineapple, and 826 tonnes mango.
