OVERVIEW GLOBAL STRAWBERRY MARKET

It is now time for strawberries in Europe. The summer fruits are again widely available, but the market is not doing as well in every country. The Netherlands and Belgium have problems and bad weather in Poland and France is slowing down the production. The British are fond of strawberries and are spending more than ever before. The Israeli season is lasting for much longer than expected; China will open its borders to American strawberries and Australia is closing a volatile season.

The season kicked off on 24 May. The estimate for this year is to reach 74,000 tonnes, an increase of 11 percent compared to last year and in line with the growing demand. Strawberries are the ultimate summer fruit for the British and deservedly popular. That the British love strawberries is evident from the sales announced by Sainsbury's. Strawberries are the best-selling product of the past four months. According to statistics, a bowl of strawberries has been sold every second, which equates to 50 million containers per year. Strawberry sales have generated 564 million pounds; this corresponds to 51 percent of the soft fruit market, which has a total value of 1.1 billion pounds. Soft fruit accounts for 21 percent of all fruit consumption, which is a higher share than that of apples and bananas. The segment has grown by 132 percent in the past decade.

The wet weather has major implications for the production and consumption of strawberries. "The weather has been bad for too long; with good weather, sales increase threefold," states a trader. This spring there was a very good greenhouse campaign, but the start of the open ground season has not been as satisfactory. The quality is just very ordinary. There are significant price differences between the greenhouse and the open ground productions. This week, the best strawberries are sold for between 1.50 and 1.70 Euro, while the price of outdoor crops stands at around 1 Euro. There's a big difference in the shelf-life of the soft fruit and that greatly affects its price.

On 14 June, the price reached dropped to rock bottom lows at the auctions of less than 1 Euro per kilo. That was bad news especially for open ground growers. A day later, there was a small rebound in the price, but with the expected rain, the mood remained bleak. Sunny weather has an impact on both production and demand. What also plays a part, is that export markets like Scandinavia and France have their own production on the market, which is preferred by consumers. Lastly, according to a trader, the European Football Championship also affects the market. The prices for the summer fruits vary. The average for all strawberry varieties stood earlier this week at 1.19 Euro per punnet (2.38 Euro per kilo). For the larger strawberries, the price reached 1.54 Euro per punnet. This week, prices have recorded a slight increase just to fall again afterwards. The Elsanta rose to 1.75 Euro, up from 1.09 Euro, and closed the week at 1.55 Euro. For open ground strawberries, there is a similar trend: from 0.80 Euro to 1.35 Euro and then back to 1.20 Euro.

Belgium has four big players in the strawberry market:

Number 1 in supply: Cooperative (no longer an auction) Hoogstraten.

Hoogstraten achieved a record of over 33 million kilos of strawberries in 2015. In 2014, the volume stood at 31 million kilos. That's an increase of more than 2 million kilograms. The strawberry acreage for 2016 amounts to just 1,000 hectares, of which a third is devoted to open ground production.

Every year, BelOrta supplies 9 million kilos of strawberries grown with different cultivation systems, including substrate or soil cultivation under glass, tunnels or in the open ground. In 2016, its strawberry acreage grew by as much as 20 hectares, reaching a total of 316 hectares of strawberries.

REO Veiling has been recording a steady growth in the supply of strawberries. In ten years, the volume has more than doubled. In 2005, some 4.8 million punnets of 500 grams were supplied, while in 2015 this figure increased to 10.2 million.

In 2015, LTV sold a volume of nearly 2.5 million kilos of Belgian strawberries, which translates to about 4.8 million boxes.

The season of strawberries for processing will finish soon in the south. Production is now shifting to the northern regions. The price stands at 1 Euro. Because of the rain, the quality varies and the supply is small. Dry weather followed by rain had an impact on the quality. Before the rain came, a good season was expected, but the weather hampered the entire process. The cool nights have also negatively affected the ripening process, which has been uneven per fruit.

The weather in France has not been beneficial to either the cultivation or the consumption. The changeable temperatures and heavy rain in late May have taken a toll on some of the early varieties. Because of the weather, the supply has remained limited. The heavy rain of early June will also affect the harvest, as part of the production will not be suitable to be sold commercially. The prices follow the seasonal development. Due to the relatively small supply, the price is 9 percent higher than last year and stands 10 percent above the average of the period between 2011 and 2015. In the first months of this year, imports grew by 11 percent, while exports were under pressure and fell by 10 percent.

The production has been two percent smaller and amounted to 55,790 tonnes. This falling trend has been recorded since the start of the season. The acreage remains stable at 3,640 hectares. The Pays de Loire region reported a decline of 17 percent in the acreage for both greenhouse and open ground strawberries. Greenhouse crops account for half of the French production and have recorded a 3 percent growth compared to last year.

On week 23, the season came to an end in the southern regions. The last of these strawberries came from the Metaponto area. Prices are stable. Also in the north is the season about to finish. As a result of the limited supply of good quality strawberries, prices were stable or recorded slight increases.

In general, the season has yielded good results, with nice prices. Basilicata and Veneto have completed the season. The strawberries from the mountains are now supplied by Piedmont and Trentino Alto Adige. These strawberries reach higher prices, of between 3 and 4 Euro per kilo. Because of the small supply and high demand, there is much room for imported fruit. Dutch strawberries cost 4.50 Euro per kilo.

Early in the season, in April, there is already a good demand for the summer fruits. Consumption has increased by 20 percent in the past decade. Italian consumers increasingly prefer domestic strawberries and they are also willing to pay a little more for them. Spanish strawberries are available between March and May. The consumption of these strawberries has increased over the past five years by 8 to 15 percent.

Supermarkets are paying more attention to the differences between varieties. Supermarkets in Northern Europe, among others in Denmark, have shown their preference for light red strawberries.

Because of the warm weather, the season started earlier this year. Huelva, according to the latest estimates, has reached a production of 290,000 tonnes, which is comparable to previous years. The season appears to be the best in the last three years. In recent campaigns, the acreage has fallen by 18 percent. Producers in Huelva want to invest in better infrastructure, so that the strawberries can travel longer distances within the 5 days that they can be on the move before the quality deteriorates. To achieve this, local producers have stressed the need of an airport in the region.

Strawberries are only grown in the open ground. In the last five years, the acreage has expanded to the north and east of the country, but the domestic production is still insufficient to meet demand. In total, the country has 500 hectares for commercial cultivation. Strawberries are a popular product. Only 40 percent of the production ends up in supermarkets. The vast majority of the harvest is consumed by the producers themselves.

After an unusually long season due to the warm winter, the campaign will come to an end within the next few weeks. The season started early in November. Despite the long campaign, the total production volume is not greater; in fact, it is expected to drop by 25,000 tonnes, which is 20 percent less than last year. Hail and floods early in the season damaged the harvest, resulting in higher prices. In recent weeks, prices will fall to 7 Euro per kilo. This is still a high price, but below the peak of 9 Euro per kilo. Because of the smaller harvest, exports have also dropped. The main export markets are the United Kingdom and Russia. Smaller volumes are shipped to Western Europe; in a normal year, some 3,000 tonnes are traded across the border, especially at the beginning of winter, before Spain comes on the market.

Most of the crops are located in the central coastal region. In total, the country has about 400 hectares devoted to strawberry production, of which 300 hectares are under tunnels. In recent years, there have been plans to boost the production by increasing the acreage and selecting other varieties. The most widely grown varieties are originally from California. The country is also looking for ways to grow the fruit even during the summer months.

Chinese market opens to California

The Chinese market is recording good prices of more than 40 yuan (5.50 Euro) per kilo. The supply is greater than the demand, so the price stands below the level reached last year. One reason for this is that the domestic production has grown. Most strawberries are sold in 400 gram containers.

The main growing areas are in the northwest of China: Heibei and Beijing. China cultivates spring and summer strawberries. The latest summer harvest has just hit the market and will be available until November. The largest part of the crops is under cover. The domestic production yields 3 million tonnes per year, which is 1.5 times more than the US.

In March, China and the US signed an agreement to allow California strawberries into the market. California growers hope to ship the first batches in the late summer. These will be the first foreign strawberries ever to set foot on Chinese soil.

The season in Victoria is nearing its end. The growers report a relatively strong finish after an inconsistent season. The beginning of the campaign was difficult; in the spring, there was a lot of heat and wind. The autumn brought better weather. The quality of strawberries varies; even under tunnels, the impact of the weather cannot be ruled out entirely, reports a producer. A part of the harvest was lost by the heat. Supermarkets have struggled with frequent deficits in the supply.

The production of strawberries in Salinas and Santa Maria is going well. The demand remains lower than the supply, with the consequent impact on prices. For this reason, larger volumes have gone to the processing industry. The price paid for a box of strawberries oscillates between 8 and 9 dollars for the fruit from Salinas and between 7 and 8 dollars for that from Santa Maria. A recently presented report on the export of strawberries shows that Canada is by far the most important market, accounting for 73 percent of the exports. Other markets include Mexico, Hong Kong, Japan and Saudi Arabia.

The main regions for the cultivation of strawberries are in Michoacan. The Zamora valley in this region has about 4,500 hectares devoted to strawberries. On average, 60 tonnes are harvested per hectare, which amounts to a total production between 270,000 and 300,000 tonnes. Most of this production, however, is intended for the processing industry. About 15 tonnes per hectare are sufficient to meet the demand from the fresh market. The season runs from October to February.

Strawberries are the most famous soft fruit in Brazil, but despite the growth of the segment, other soft fruits are still relatively unknown. The segment accounts for less than 1 percent of the supermarket sales. Furthermore, soft fruit is considerably more expensive than other fruits. A kilo of papayas, for example, costs 10 pesos. For the same money, you can buy 125 grams of blueberries. Despite these circumstances, the country has strawberry crops and the season lasts from November to February.

Around 1,800 hectares are devoted to the fruit's production in Peru. The yield stands at around 20 tonnes per hectare. The production is mainly intended for the domestic market. Supermarkets usually pay a better price than the export markets ($ 3.80 to $ 3). Even though there is year-round production, the peak is recorded from September to December. Between April and June there are plenty of imports.

The harvest has recently kicked off and will continue until late July. Chilean strawberries are mainly intended for the domestic market. Exports are limited to the frozen product. There are projects to boost the export of fresh strawberries.

A big project has been launched to promote the production of strawberries, but plenty of investments will be needed. Due to the climate, only greenhouse cultivation is possible.