The sector warns: "Only 50% of the Balearic carob will be harvested."

Carob production in the Balearic Islands will be severely reduced this season. According to data from the Garrova Carob Cutters Association (PIMEM), only 50% of the available fruit will be harvested, whereas in a normal year up to 70% of the 20,000 to 25,000 kilos produced annually are harvested.

Businesspeople in the sector point to two main reasons: the drop in carob prices and the effects of a pest that has affected the plantations.

The president of the association, Juana Verger, explains that prices this year will range between 42 and 47 euros, depending on whether the carob is organic or conventional. "The price drop is due to the fact that there was a significant increase in the use of locust bean gum at the time, but the market found substitutes and in 2022 the drop was inevitable," he points out.

Even so, the sector is confident of recovering prices with the production of products for direct consumption, such as carob flour or chocolate, and with greater use of the pulp, which could give greater value to the slicing.

As for the pest, which began to affect crops at the beginning of summer, it is the carob beetle xylosandrus, which bores into the tree's wood and weakens its production. "To act, we had to wait until the production cycle was over so as not to infect its fruit," Verger explained.