Snail farming expanding in Spain
In 2000 there were 26 farms dedicated to snail farming in Spain. Currently there are 614. Spain is the world's second largest consumer of snails, after France.
The breeding of snails (Helix aspersa) is subsector in clear expansion in Spain. According to data from the Ministry of Agriculture, the 26 farms present in 2000 have now become 614; 38% of them are located in Andalucía.
Spaniards consume about 16 million kilos of gastropod per year, which makes them the second largest consumers in the world, only after France. Spain imports around 12,000 tons of feral snails annually , from Morocco, Mauritania and Eastern European countries. "Farms barely contribute 3% of what it is commercialized but we are expanding and we think we will grow up to 30%, which means a fivefold increase in sales", José A. Marcelo, heliciculturist and President of the sectorial organization Ancec, declares.
This business requires an investment ranging "from €4,000 to build a 300 m2 farm, the minimum acreage required, to €50,000 for one of 3,000 m2", Marcelo estimates.
A kilo of snails can be sold in the Spanish market at about €7.5
Source: El País