Foro Asturies denounces again the lack of support to cider

With a production the 12% of the Asturian one, the Basque government invests more in their cider than the “Principality” does in the 11 products with DO including cider. “The government willl have to be guided and make a promotion plan”, says Carmen Fernández.

LA SIDRA.- The deputy of FORO and spokeswoman of Rural Development and Natural Resoruces in the General Board, Carmen Fernández, said in a press conference her “concern about the local news about Basque cider in the USA instead of the Asturian one”. It was the cidermakers themselves who after a visit there said that Asturian cider is given a less quality apart of being less known”, so she added that “the alarms keep ringing inside and outside Asturies for the lack of support of the Javier Fernandez’s Government, so Asturian cider continues to lose markets and prestige”.

Fernández reminded that on December of last year there was passed in the General Board an proposal of Non Law by FORO asking the government a plan for co-financing along companies and associations of the public sector. “The proposal passed unanimosly but once again it was not enough to get the attention of the government, which will have to be guided and make a promotion plan for cider given the competence outside the Principality and not lose it in Asturies”.

Carmen Fernández also said that “the Government answered FORO about the agreement basing the budget in a campaign alongside the Foods from the Paradise campaign carried out this December with an invest of 43.709.43 €. It was based on the distribution of a leaflet in the local media, four supermarkets and 20 second sports in local radios. This campaign wasn’t for pormoting cider as we want it, but just for the products with protected denomination of origin, leaving behind Asturian cider and its protagonism”. She stated: “it’s remarkable how other autonomous Communities such as Basque Country, with less cider tradition and qualiy than Asturian cider is proving that cider has a great potential market yet to explore and that deseres institutional support, so they release promotion campaigns one after the other, empowering their cider with an amout like the one used in Asturies just for the 11 DO products” said referencing the budget for the communicaton and promotion of cider from Euskadi on last 21st of march of 2017, with a budget of 50.000 €  without counting the VAT. With this data Carmen Fernández highlighted how “Basque people invest in their campaigns for cider more than Asturies for 11 products with denomination of origin”.