The ideal climate for fruit production brought Gijs Hoogendoorn to Portugal in 1999. He now grows berries year-round in tunnels on around 25 hectares in Odemira. While he had experienced occasional heavy rainfall in recent years, he had never seen conditions as severe as this. "It has been an exceptionally wet year, with a great deal of wind. Fortunately, our company has come through it reasonably well, but many tunnels in the region have been blown down."
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"We should be in full harvest now, but production has been delayed by about a month," says the grower, who mainly cultivates raspberries, blackberries, and, on a smaller scale, redcurrants. "We have experienced many things here, but never as much rain as this. The Barragem de Santa Clara reservoir has risen so sharply in a short period that it is hard to imagine. Santa Clara was at 36% in January 2025, which led to severe restrictions. Now it is 95% full, and I think we will reach the 100% mark. The likelihood of that was about as high as an Elfstedentocht in the Netherlands, but it happened nonetheless."
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"With so much water in the tunnels, it is difficult to maintain the desired climate. Raspberries grow slowly, while weeds grow all the faster. We should have harvested these Malaika raspberries three weeks ago."
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When asked whether he still expects the crop to perform well, Gijs replies, "That will vary greatly from farm to farm. We have one growing location close to the sea, but we deliberately no longer produce there in winter because of the storm risk. For us, the main issue is the delay, but I see fellow growers who have suffered significant damage. Production losses from a collapsed tunnel are not easy to recover, especially with the long canes that are widely grown here. However, I believe the greatest long-term impact will come from the prolonged high humidity. It has been humid for far too long, and that does not benefit soft fruit."
Photo right: Not all greenhouses were affected. These plants did not sustain any damage from the weather.
A fourth storm is forecast for Friday (13 February) in Odemira. "For this year, we do not need any more water, although it will probably come. It just shows that even in a region with an ideal climate, surprises can still occur," says the grower, who in recent years has focused increasingly on plant nursery production. "That has proven to be a perfect complement for us."
Marketing the soft fruit is currently the least of Gijs' concerns. "That is actually the easiest part for us. With our varieties, such as Malaika and Monet in raspberries and Sweet Royalla in blackberries, we target premium markets. We handle the sales ourselves, and the fruit is shipped in all directions, from England to Greece, Italy, and Spain, and we also maintain strong contacts in our home country, the Netherlands."
For more information:
Gijs Hoogendoorn
First Fruit
Tel: +35 1966422513
[email protected]
