Although the Spanish blueberry campaign has been marked by low yields due to the mild temperatures and the abundance of rain and cloudy days, the situation has now become one of oversupply and more stagnant sales.
"This year's unstable weather has taken a toll on the production of all berries in general, although the impact may have been greater in the case of strawberries," says Carlos Esteve, of the commercial department of Onubafruit.
"While the blueberry campaign, in general terms, has been good, the harvest has been significantly delayed and we still have significant volumes available. We did not expect such large volumes at this time; it has caught us a bit by surprise and it is making sales more difficult. We thought that we had already left the peak of the production behind and we have suddenly found ourselves with larger volumes than we expected. The problems is that, unlike with other berries, blueberries need a more thought-out and complex sales planning."
To this we must add the early arrival of the productions in central and northern Europe, which are ahead of other years due to the favourable weather conditions during the spring, unlike in southern Europe, explains Carlos Esteve. Another key factor is the entry into the market of summer fruits, such as melon, watermelon and stone fruit, which entails extra competition.
In any case, "... the low yields achieved so far, as well as the growth of blueberry consumption recorded every year, have prevented sales from collapsing this year, as many had feared," he adds.
Onubafruit ships its blueberries mainly to the European markets, but exports are also on the rise in South East Asia, where exports have tripled this campaign compared to last year.