In a short speech, Edgar Moita of Arbus Comercio Internacional discussed the Portuguese pulses market. He stressed that Portugal is mainly an import market with a small population of 10 million people. Domestic production has been decreasing as imports have increased and consumers prefer imported pulses since Portugal has not had the processing facilities to produce clean, polished products.
Moita mentioned that Argentina is the biggest supplier of beans and chickpeas for Portugal and that the Portuguese consumer does not eat lentils, meaning production and imports are virtually irrelevant. He also mentioned the popularity of Bitter Lupin beans, which are commonly consumed in bars and cafes. Although he predicted a small boost in domestic production due to rising international prices, Moita clarified that it will still not be sufficient to reduce reliability on imports and that he expects the market to stay mostly the same in the future.
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