The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Natural Environment, through the Directorate General for Agri-food Quality and Local Product, has opened two proceedings against the Damm group for using the name Mallorca in direct relation to Laccao. A brand that no longer has any connection with the island and that is a 100% Catalan product.

Mallorca's dairy cow producers have made a public call to stop consuming products and boycott the Grup Damm in response to the closure of the Agama plant and the decision to stop collecting milk on the island. The sector considers that the company has breached the commitment made with the farmers, which provided for maintaining collection until September to give them reorganization time.

The story ofAgama in Mallorca It could have ended differently. The Damm group Agama was open to handing over the factory and the Agama brand, but after months of negotiations, the proposal was rejected. This offer came during talks to create a cooperative in Mallorca to manage dairy production on the island, bringing together the Balearic government, Agama workers, farmers, and some private investors. What was meant to be a lifeline for Mallorca's dairy sector failed to materialize and has led to its collapse and demise.another part of the Balearic Islands industry.

White Rose andLaccaoThey share a common history. Both are historic, traditional, and emblematic products of the Mallorcan industry They ended up in Damm's hands and have lost their connection to Mallorca. The current situation with Laccao is a carbon copy of what happened years ago with Rosa Blanca, a beer that many still associate with the Balearic Islands, but whose only link to the islands is its name.

The Damm group has reached an agreement with the workers of Agama after weeks of negotiations. Due to the factory closure in PalmaThe company will relocate five of the 14 workers, and the remaining nine will receive severance pay higher than initially agreed upon. However, according to Jesús Ávila, spokesperson for the Agama workers, the five who will remain will retain their current salaries and other employment benefits, such as seniority. Sources within the company told ARA Baleares that a social support plan has been designed, which includes the possibility of redeployment for 100% of the workforce to other companies within the group, most of them in Mallorca. Furthermore, Damm stated that they are committed to offering "an individualized solution to all those affected." As for the workers who do not accept the redeployment plan and decide to leave the company voluntarily, the agreement reached with Damm includes improved severance packages.

He closure of the Agama factory, owned by DammThis represents a further economic loss for the primary sector of the Balearic Islands. The portion of the subsidy that the brewery received The funds allocated to European Union and Spanish Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries will be returned to the European Union and Spanish government budgets, respectively. No investment will be made in other potential businesses in the sector that could have received the funds had Damm not requested them and subsequently closed the factory.

The Prime Minister, Marga Prohens, has accused the Damm Group of deceiving the Administration and livestock farmers with the closure of the Agama factory in PalmaA leading figure in Mallorca's dairy industry. Furthermore, during the plenary session of the Balearic Islands Parliament, it was announced that the Government will revoke the declaration of regional interest which the multinational had requested and will demand the return ofa grant of more than one million euros"We will stand with the sector and support its initiatives to guarantee the continuity of the dairy industry," the president stressed.

Damm has announced that, after the closure of the Agama factory in Palma, will do everythingLaccaoin Catalonia, but will maintain its traditional recipe. Furthermore, the company has also assured that there will be no changes to the production quantity of this traditional Balearic Islands beverage, nor to its marketing or distribution; the only change is that, from now on, Laccao, one of the flagship products of the islands' industry, will be a 100% Catalan product.

Damm will have to return 1.1 million euros to the Government of the subsidy it received within the framework of the transformation of the primary sector, after announcing the closure of the Agama factory in Palma and to fail to comply with the established regulations. This is provided that the file opened by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Natural Environment confirms what is already evident: the conditions established in the terms and conditions have not been met, since these require maintaining the activity for five years from the date the public aid is received.

In the 19th century, Mallorcans didn't consume cow's milk. "Many houses had a goat, or even a man on their estates who sold goat's milk," says Mateu Morro, who was Minister of Agriculture in Francesc Antich's government. But changes related to the Second Industrial Revolution (the growth of cities, improved transportation, and the establishment of factories, among others) increased demand for milk in the main urban centers. To supply the population's needs, according to Morro, "European varieties of cows were brought in that were specialized in producing a lot of milk."

Despite concerns surrounding the future of Agama after the company announced to the farmers who will no longer buy milk from them in 2026Less than two years ago, the Government declared the dairy project a strategic one. On December 1, 2023, the Governing Council decreed the importance of the project then proposed by the company that owns Agama, Damm SA. Regarding dairy production, the proposal, which was expected to receive funding from the European Next Generation funds, included improvement actions "and the consolidation of the product processing plant."

The crisis in the Mallorcan dairy sector continues to worsen, and a new source of concern has emerged that could jeopardize the economic viability of the island's dairies: Agama, which belongs to the Damm group, has announced that it will no longer purchase milk from them starting next year. This was reported by the newspaper this Saturday. Breaking News, which details that Agama has already informed three of the largest dairies on the island.