The sale of the warehouse and the rustic land exploited by the founding company l'Esplet is now the last chapter in the disappearance of a benchmark in the Balearic countryside. At the beginning of the month, the company's closure and the dismissal of its 19 workers due to economic problems were made public. Now, two weeks later, the company is selling the warehouse and land for five million euros.

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 Balearic Government is working on a new label, "Product Made in the Balearic Islands," which will allow manufacturers to promote their products made in the Islands, even if they use materials and raw materials from elsewhere. The initiative comes after current regulations on local products require that at least 50% of the ingredients be from the Islands for a product to bear the "Product of the Balearic Islands" label. This criterion, which many in the production sector fully understand, excludes many products made in the archipelago but with raw materials from elsewhere. This is the case, for example, with certain cheeses made with imported milk, cookies made with foreign flour, and traditional almond and coffee products that are made with imported ingredients. Although these products have a manufacturing process entirely rooted in the Islands, current regulations prevent them from obtaining official recognition as local products. According to the Director General of Industry, Alfons Gómez, the Balearic Government has made significant progress on the draft of the new seal, which "will allow, for example, a bleach producer to highlight that the process was carried out in the Islands, even if the ingredients used are not." In such a small territory, "it's not easy for raw materials to come from the Balearic Islands, but if processors add value, as is the case with many well-known brands, it's absurd that this cannot be recognized," he told ARA Baleares. "It's possible to differentiate between products with local ingredients and products made in the Islands, with a transparent system that reflects the production phase that does take place in the archipelago," he added. The measure aims to recognize and promote industrial and artisanal activity in the Balearic Islands and make it easier for consumers to identify products made in the Islands, even if they don't meet the 50% local ingredient requirement. It also aims to enhance the visibility of the work of local producers and boost the food and manufacturing industry of the Archipelago. considered by most experts as a catalyst for change in the current economic model, based on tourism monoculture.

Until the 1970s, one in three workers in the Balearic Islands was employed in industry. The islands manufactured a large part of what they used and even exported to mainland Spain and abroad. Today, the figures are different and show how this sector, considered strategic and essential for creating quality jobs, is practically negligible in the overall economy and continues to lose ground. Tourism has become so dominant that, at best, industry represents 5% of economic activity. According to data from the Balearic Government, which uses less restrictive parameters, there are approximately 6,000 companies. According to the Impulsa Foundation database, the figure is less than 700.

The Balearic Islands' food and industrial history is facing a turning point. Following the demise of Agama, the Catalan group Vall Companys has acquired Comercial Vera, a leading name in Mallorcan gourmet food. Founded in 1994 by Manuel Vera, the company has been sold to this meat distribution giant, which boasts an annual turnover exceeding €4.1 billion. Specializing in both domestic and imported meat, the company has been a key supplier for hotels, restaurants, and local businesses, offering a catalog of over 4,000 products and daily delivery services throughout the island. In 2009, Comercial Vera opened a 3,500-square-meter facility equipped with advanced technology for animal waste disposal, processing, and packaging, as well as a 450-square-meter retail space for direct sales. The Vera family will continue their involvement in the food sector by managing a butcher shop in the Olivar market and a restaurant, formerly known as Asador Patxi, in Palma.

In 2024, Mallorca produced 9,708,923 liters of milk, almost three million liters less than in 2020, the year of the pandemic, when the figure exceeded 12.6 million liters. In just four years, production has fallen so sharply due to "the crisis in the dairy industries, mainly inAgama", as explained by the Director General of Agriculture, Livestock and Rural Development, Fernando Fernández.

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."