Warm weather in Sweden brings strawberry boom
"We have really good volumes at the moment and the extra warmth and sun is causing the strawberries to ripen very quickly. The season just started last week and we already have good volumes. If the weather continues as it has been, peak season this year is expected between 12-20th of June, right before midsummer," said Anita Jansson from Hebes.
The strawberry is THE food for midsummer and is a fruit that every Swede has on hand during the summer months. The huge increase is supply is expected to bring down prices, especially during the peak part of the season.
One of the growers for Hebes, Rickard Bergkvist from Eriksgården, gave us an update of the current situation, 'The harvest is coming on very quickly this year with the heat we have been having. I picked 150 litres today and we expect to pick around 250-300 litres tomorrow. Strawberries grown in Sweden usually start slowly and ripen steadily as the temperatures increase at a steady rate, but this year, all of the strawberries are ripening at the same time. I can't speak for all Swedish growers, but I have a feeling that we will have a shorter season this year.'
The first varieties from Eriksgården, which are already on the shelves for consumers are; Malling Centenary, Rumba and Flair. Anita, from Hebes, said that the first strawberries they have received have a great flavour and really good quality. The colour is also a deeper red than they usually see at the start of the season.
Hebe CEO, Roland Nilsson, said that is going to be a fantastic year for selling strawberries and part of that has to do with football; "We have the FIFA 2018 World Cup this year and the Swedish team will be participating. That means that everyone will be staying home to watch the game, lighting up the barbeque and most importantly, have strawberries for dessert!"
For more information:
Anita Jansson
Hebe Frukt & Grönt AB
Tel: +46 31 780 27 00
Fax: +46 31 19 33 28
Email: anita.jansson@hebe.se
www.hebe.se