The formal appointment by the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Natural Environment has become official today
On November 29, the new Regulatory Council was established for the next four years, and the body proposed Riera as president
Miquel Riera Grimalt will be the new president of the Protected Geographical Indication Ametlla de Mallorca. This was made official today with the formal appointment by the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Natural Environment, Joan Simonet, who accepted the proposal made by the plenary session of the new Regulatory Council of the IGP, an elected body responsible for deciding on the control and promotion of the Almond of Mallorca.
The new Regulatory Council was set up on 29 November after an electoral process to renew its members. At the meeting it was agreed to propose to the Minister the appointment as president of Miquel Riera Grimalt, and of Antoni Bonafé Ramis – until now president- as new vice president.
Riera, who has a farm registered in the register of almond producers, said that he faces this new challenge “with enthusiasm and conviction that we will grow in all senses the almond sector on the island”, and stressed the need to “continue promoting to publicize our product, of excellent quality, among the resident population and the one that visits us”. He also thanked the previous members for the “great work done” in the last four years.
During the last legislature -from 2019 to now- active farms registered in the PGI have gone from 150 to 295; the area of crops, from 2,400 hectares to about 4,000; and the production of PGI almonds with claws, from 638 tons to 890. Finally, the associated industries have gone from 7 to 15, and the total annual marketing value, from 82,000 euros in 2019 to more than 343,000 euros.
Finally, it should be remembered that in 2024 it will be ten years since the approval by the European Union of the Ametlla de Mallorca Protected Geographical Indication, the seal to protect the link of the almond with its origin and maximum quality.
