«It won't be the same thing» as in other years, but not even the Covid-19 pandemic will prevent Aljezur from holding a sweet potato festival, this time only in digital version, to mark its position and ensure that this local icon gets back on track ( literally) in the mouths of the Portuguese.
The Aljezur Sweet Potato Festival will take place online from today, Friday, the 27th of November, until the 8th of December, combining the need for security imposed by the pandemic with the stimulus of the local economy.
At the same time, the expectations of those who can't do without the Lira variety sweet potato, typical of this county of Costa Vicentina and holder of a Protected Geographical Indication (PGI), will be satisfied.
This means that anyone who wants to buy Aljezurense sweet potato can do so in a virtual store, which is available on the website of the Municipality of Aljezur and on the platform dott.pt starting today, the 27th, and having the product delivered to your door "in a short time".
This was the solution found by the Chamber and the Association of Sweet Potato Producers of Aljezur to mark the dates when, in a normal year, this event would be held, which attracts tens of thousands of people to the municipality.
The festival is still taking place, but the physical component, that one, proved to be “impossible”, due to the evolution of the epidemiological situation in the country and in the region.
«The question of making the festival in these molds has to do with the moment in which we live. For us to bring 20 or 30 thousand people to the municipality of Aljezur, at this point, would be fantastic. But it was impossible, there was no chance of doing it," he told the Sul Informação José Gonçalves, Mayor of Aljezur.
«We even considered another modality for the festival, which involved the restaurants. Initially, when we were thinking about how it was going to be done, this possibility was started and there were even restaurants that were available. But, in fact, with the worsening of the situation, we found that there are no conditions. We cannot risk such a situation, because we cannot jeopardize people's safety», added the mayor.
“The year we are living has forced us to rethink things. The festival will be held in different ways, but even so, we will give people the opportunity to acquire our sweet potato, thus boosting the local economy», reinforced António Carvalho, councilor of the City Council who takes over the responsibility more closely to our newspaper. organization of the festival.
"Our bet was this: to make the sale of sweet potatoes digital," he said.
Still, those who, year after year, do not do without the trip to Aljezur, will be welcome.
«At the same time, we are also inviting people to come to our restaurants, to be able to taste this product in some typical dishes that our restaurants offer», according to António Carvalho.
"We are aware that the economic impact this model will have will be much lower than in other years, but we think it is important to continue marking and marking this date, because that was when the festival would take place, in a normal year", said the city councilor.
A vision shared by Manuel Marreiros, president of the Sweet Potato Producers Association of Aljezur.
“This year's edition will be minimalist, of course. Above all, what is intended is to say that we are present, that our sweet potato is there and that anyone can buy it, in this case, taking advantage of the facilities provided by electronic platforms," he summarized to South Informationo the associative leader.
And, in this case, there is even an advantage, since, being an online store, the product is also accessible for those who are further away.
«We will be able to go further than when we do the festival, because the costs will be the same for a consumer of Faro and one from Porto, for example», said Manuel Marreiros.
"The pandemic ended up generating some business opportunities, some of which, mainly online, have grown a lot, due to the mobility restrictions that are in place and the fact that people are already more familiar with this type of market," he added .
Manuel Marreiros guarantees that the potatoes that will reach the home of those who buy them online, «in terms of quality, the concern to send the product in good condition and calibrated, have nothing to do with what we see in some commercial surfaces. People can order as many pounds as they want. Obviously, the less quantity, the more expensive it will be per kilo».
“Our sweet potato can be delivered anywhere in the country. And this is reflected in the communication we are making about the festival this year. Normally, we focused our communication from the Tagus downwards, but in 2020 we are expanding a little more and we are also betting on national media, so that everyone can understand that they can, at any point in the country, place an order for our potato, with Protected Geographical Indication», considered, for his part, António Carvalho.
And it won't be just for a week and a half that this will happen. “The idea is to keep the store online for longer. We want to advertise this store now during the sweet potato festival, but keep it active for the time being».
In other words, the partnership that was established with the association, which also involves CTT, «will last, at least, for as long as the sweet potato is in a position to be marketed in this way and will be one more instrument to be able to try to sell the product. , this year".
In 2020, the production of sweet potato of the Lira variety should "walk around 20 or 30 tons", figures similar to last year.
Bearing in mind that, in a normal year, “20 to 25 tons” are sold during the festival, one can clearly understand the importance of the event for those who produce this product of recognized excellence and much appreciated.
Thus, the association is already on the ground looking for alternatives.
«Without the festival in the traditional way, we are also looking for other outlets. In principle, we are going to make a contract with a large distributor and I think that the potatoes will not stay in the warehouse and will reach people's homes», said Manuel Marreiros.
“They will be sold with a more careful presentation, in a cardboard package. will enter the circuit good gourmet food».
If this agreement is confirmed, «our difficulty will even be to have potatoes to sell at the festival (laughs)».
However, the mayor of Aljezur has also been active in promoting this local product.
«The Municipality of Aljezur is purchasing sweet potatoes to complete the Christmas baskets we have for employees, and beyond, and I have already challenged my colleagues at AMAL – Comunidade Intermunicipal do Algarve, to do the same and buy from the association », said the Aljezurense mayor.
Although the commercialization of sweet potato seems well underway, with the online version of the festival and the potential agreement with the large distribution, not holding the event in the traditional way is still a hole for other local producers and artisans.
In the case of other producers, they will soon be able to benefit from the online sales system that will be created for the festival.
«The intention is to evolve, later, into a store that can represent some of the local products, such as honey, sausages and others. This is an issue to advance a little further, next year», revealed António Carvalho.
As for the artisans, who are also a regular presence at the festival, we tried to find an alternative, but it will not be possible to move forward.
«We had an earlier design that called for the creation of a circuit, in some spaces in the Chamber, and that other people were willing to rent, which we would give to the artisans. But that turned out not to be possible due to the evolution of the pandemic. We still considered doing it here online, but all this has a very high cost and proved not to be feasible», he said.
“The sweet potato is an important icon of the territory of Aljezur and of the local economy. Therefore, it always ends up being a joy to celebrate it, even though there is also a feeling of great sadness here. I think it's a feeling we all have, because we are very conditioned in our experience. But, whatever we can celebrate, we will do it», concluded the councilor of the Aljezur Chamber.
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