Fruit and vegetable growers, trade and service industries up to the task

COVID-19, until a few weeks ago a virus roaming in China, has assumed pandemic size. In a large number of countries we are immersed in it, learning to manage our family and our work lives on the face of this new, dismaying situation. The behavior of the markets in Spain and the rest of Europe has shown the value that consumers place on fresh produce. Something especially noticeable under this extreme situation. Growers and traders are making enormous efforts in Spain to maintain supply with the same quality as in normal times. In Almeria or Murcia and other producing regions there is no pause. And in most cases "teleworking" is not an option. Since the beginning of the pandemic in Spain, Afrucat has reported the increase in demand for fruit and the efforts of its partners to meet this demand. It is a battle that is being won although obstacles arise, such as the lack of labour, something critical for picking strawberries in Huelva, for example. More recently, lorry drivers are experiencing much trouble to bring goods to their destination (service areas where they cannot find cleaning products, problems accessing services, etc.). And, at the destination, the refusal of the recipients to collaborate in unloading the cargo. Presently we are receiving and publishing statements on behalf of the companies that supply equipment and materials for the fruit and vegetable industry, expressing their solidarity with those affected and their families, and explaining the efforts made by their organizations to protect their workforce and continue to provide a service to their customers. Services like attending running or new orders, supplying spare parts or helping surmount technical problems. Hygiene and food safety have been the main concern of all those companies in the past and both issues now take special importance. They are taken care off through expert management practices that guarantee that the right procedures from production field to the point of sale are followed. And also the disinfection of working areas, correct packaging, etc. The Internet portals Tecnologiahorticola.com, Poscosecha.com and Postharvest.biz, Actualfruveg.com and Bibliotecadehorticultura.com appreciate the efforts displayed by growers, distributors and service providers maintaining the level of service that allows to deliver fruit and vegetables to the consumer with the usual quality level , even in this critical and painful situation for the whole society. We thank all the people working on the horticultural value chain for the superb job they are doing. Working on-line does not impose much changes to us and we offer our pages to disseminate the information that any company considers of interest in order to overcome these critical times. All of us together, working as a team. And we would like to express our gratitude to all those persons who, due to the nature of their activity -health care in particular, but also other professions – must work in exposed places, allowing in that way that our society continues to operate. Team Postharvest.biz & Poscosecha.com  Tecnologiahorticola.com ACTUALFruveg.com Biblioteca de Horticultura Contact, info@poscosecha.com The image is from Daniele Levis Pelusi of Unsplash and the bottle is of disinfectant