Moroccan peppers: farm-gate prices double as Spain turns to Souss-Massa

Moroccan peppers are fetching twice last season’s prices at the farm gate, as European buyers, led by Spain, chase supplies that growers in Souss-Massa are struggling to deliver. Obeida Mansour of Universal Peppers gave the figures in a declaration to FreshPlaza.

The surge concerns mainly Kapia and square peppers. Mansour, whose company grows peppers in both Morocco and Spain, described European demand, and Spanish demand above all, as unusually strong for this point in the year.

Thrips hit Spanish crops

Much of the pressure stems from Spain, where thrips, tiny insect pests, have caused heavy production losses. Universal Peppers saw the damage first-hand at a partner farm in Spain, where large-scale replanting was required.

Spain already relies heavily on Morocco for this vegetable. In the first half of 2026, close to 95% of the peppers it imported came from the Kingdom, amounting to 79 million kilos.

Only 35% of usual volumes

Moroccan growers face their own shortfall. On its own farms and those of its contract growers in Souss-Massa, Universal Peppers is currently harvesting just 35% of the volumes it would normally pick at this stage of the season, according to Mansour.

That figure covers only the farms working with the company and is not an estimate of national output. Mansour put the weak harvest down to unsuitable temperatures.

Heat also makes pest control harder, he explained, since producers must stay within the maximum pesticide residue limits set by the European Union for marketed produce.

Orders from West Africa

Demand is not limited to Europe. Orders from Mauritania and Senegal are adding to those placed by Spanish and other European buyers, further squeezing available supply.

Mansour expects the situation to ease soon, with the company’s farms returning to full capacity and normal supply within two weeks.

For the remainder of the campaign, he said the course of the thrips outbreak in Spanish greenhouses would be decisive: if the attacks persist, demand for peppers from Moroccan producers could stay high.