The strawberry campaign is currently in its final stages in the Spanish province of Huelva and will continue in the north of Spain, which delivers much lower volumes, although slightly more each year. Meanwhile, blueberry and raspberry volumes remain strong, although they are bound to be on a downward trend in the coming weeks.
"We will finish with the strawberries from Huelva in week 23 and will immediately continue with the first harvests in Salamanca, more focused on the domestic market, because production is much lower compared to Huelva. Besides, in the spring and summer months, local strawberries are available in many of the European countries to which we export in the fall and winter," says Carlos Esteve, Sales Director of Onubafruit.
© Onubafruit S. Coop
The abundant and continuous rainfall and the many cloudy days have played a key role in the first four months of the season. "Due to the excess moisture and the lack of light, we've had lower volumes than expected in the first part of the season, and we've also had to deal with more quality problems than usual, with greater losses and rejections at destination," he said.
"In the second part of the season, from mid-April onwards, we've had good productivity and, thanks to the good weather in the countries where we export, there has been good demand. From mid-May onwards, this good weather at the destination has contributed to local crops arriving earlier and, as a result, there has been a drop in exports," said Carlos Esteve.
The low yields in the first part of the season have been compensated by higher prices than in previous seasons, despite the fact that costs continue to rise, especially in terms of labor.
© Onubafruit S. Coop
As far as blueberries are concerned, Onubafruit is selling around 1,400 tons per week. "We still have significant volumes at the moment, as even though the blueberry production campaign has been considerably extended with various varieties, the peak is still reached between mid-April and late May. In our case, we have many plantations of new varieties, so this year we started to have good volumes earlier than usual, and there has been a lower concentration of supply, which has allowed us to achieve very satisfactory commercial results," says the Sales Director of Onubafruit.
Since this has been a year with less saturation of blueberry supply in the markets, prices have also been less volatile. "Fifteen years ago, blueberries were only produced from March to May, and this year we have started in early November, and we'll manage to finish in late July in Huelva. From then on, we will continue with production in the north of Spain," said Carlos Esteve.
Onubafruit produces raspberries practically all year round. "We'll have a good supply until the end of June. This year, there has been a greater concentration of supply in the fall, and even more remarkably so in May. Despite this, the market has responded well in terms of demand," said Carlos Esteve.
For more information:
Onubafruit S.L.
P.E Mirador del Odiel. C/ Lentisco s/n Portal 3, Of.17
Huelva, Spain.
Tel.: +34 959540844
[email protected]
www.onubafruit.com
