The berry assortment keeps growing in Germany. This applies particularly to shrub berries, as they are now grown on an area of around 8,900 ha in Germany. In the past six years alone, an additional 2,000 ha have been added. Blueberries are at the top of this range. Each year, much of the growth in acreage goes to this fruit. This means that blueberries are getting further and further ahead of other berries. Blackcurrants, the second most important crop in German cultivation -in terms of surface area- again lost some acreage in 2017. Blackcurrants mostly go into processing and thus do not benefit from the trends that drive up fresh demand.
Raspberries ranked third in the ranking of shrub berries. Here, protected production in high tunnels or greenhouses was able to gain some acreage. The main thing is to protect the delicate raspberries from the rain. Of the early harvest imports have too much of a presence in the market. Especially in Spain and Portugal, cultivation was forced.Even with strawberries, the trend is towards protected production. The protected cultivation of berry fruits in Germany will be the subject of a break-out session at the German Fruit and Vegetable Congress (DOGK) in Düsseldorf. A further increase in consumer spending on fresh berry fruit by 13% in the first 4 months of 2018 underlines the momentum in this sector.
The plenary session will deal, among other things, with the online fresh fruit and vegetable business. Will this last bastion of stationary trade now fall as well? AMI evaluations claim this is not yet the case, but things can change quickly. The Congress takes place 20 and 21 September 2018 in Dusseldorf (CCD Süd, Stadthalle). Information about the program and ways to register are found here.
Source: www.ami-informiert.de