"Spain: "Strawberry quality and prices saved by the cold"

There are never two strawberry campaigns alike in Huelva, and this one has been marked by very low temperatures during the winter, as well as by abundant rainfall, which has so far limited the production. "At least, it is good that it has been cold, because with so much rain and so much humidity, if the temperatures had been high, the quality of the fruit would have been in jeopardy. We could say that the quality and prices have been saved by the cold," says Carlos Masiá, head of marketing at Masiá Ciscar. While the weather has improved a bit over the past two weeks and production is starting to recover, forecasts point to more rainfall next week.

Also, bad weather in much of Europe has caused local productions to be delayed this spring. "This will allow us to extend the campaign compared to previous years," he says.

Founded at the end of the 70's by an enterprising Valencian family, Masiá Ciscar is specialised in the cultivation of strawberries in more than 350 hectares. However, the growing demand for other berries has led them to also bet on raspberries and blueberries, with around 25 hectares devoted to each crop. In Spain, they work with the supermarket chain Mercadona, and they also export part of the production. Meanwhile, the raspberries and blueberries are intended only for distribution chains in foreign markets, such as the United Kingdom, Belgium and the Netherlands.

In this campaign, the company is mainly focusing on the strawberry variety Primoris, which represents around 65% of its entire harvest. The Rociera, also from the FNM program, accounts for another 15%. The rest of the varieties are from its own programs. "We have obtained new varieties after several years of trials together with our clients in our experimental farms. These are already yielding good commercial results; therefore, in the next campaign, we hope to be able to give a boost to the strawberry varieties that we plant and focus mostly on those."

For now, the new varieties are already registered, waiting to be officially presented. "What we aim for, firstly, is to offer 'standard' varieties that allow us to be competitive productively and with an equal or superior organoleptic quality compared to the rest, and secondly, to deliver varieties with a high value in terms of flavour to be able to launch premium lines for our customers," explains Carlos Masiá.

The fact of being Mercadona's distributor in Spain allowed them to set up its own plantations in the Canary Islands years ago, offering what they call "island strawberries". "We adapted Huelva's varieties to the Canary Islands to offer supermarkets there a fruit that is both close and fresher. In fact, some of the varieties of the new program are now being tested in the Canary Islands."