The Spanish berry supply remains limited due to bad weather in most of the country. Spanish exporters are facing great difficulties in meeting the current demand and that of the coming days ahead of the Valentine's Day campaign.
"We had a good start to the strawberry season in December, but from the middle of the month it started to get colder than usual and to rain intermittently for several days in a row," says a grower and exporter from Huelva.
"With such meteorological instability, production has been slowed down, and in general, the excess humidity is causing greater losses in the fields. We are carrying out a more careful selection of the fruit, and this is resulting in lower commercial volumes, as well as higher costs," he says.
Consequently, demand in Europe is outstripping supply, because other countries such as Morocco and Greece are also having problems with the weather. This situation is also causing prices to increase.
"Forecasts point to unstable weather for the next few days, so I don't think we will be able to meet the demand for the Valentine's campaign," says the exporter. Berry sales usually increase in the run-up to Valentine's Day," he says.
"The weather has become the biggest challenge this season, so we hope it will stabilize soon so that we can make some good progress," he says.
