The Spanish berry campaign is underway, with a difficult situation for strawberries since the start of the season, with a higher supply than usual due to production imbalances caused by the bad weather in winter. At the same time, blueberry supply is still lower than expected at this time of year due to the delay in the harvest, so prices remain high.
"This year we've had a really difficult strawberry season," says Carlos Esteve, Sales Director of the second-degree cooperative Onubafruit, "The bad weather, especially in January and February, with abundant rainfall, strong winds and lower temperatures than usual, caused the loss of a large part of the early crop, for which above average prices have been paid this year compared to last season, as the Moroccan production was also affected."
© Onubafruit
In this context, the Greek production has been in a better position in European markets. According to Carlos Esteve, "this is also a supplier that is growing in terms of production every year and which is increasingly competing with Spanish fruit."
The adverse weather has also delayed the production of mid and late season strawberries, leading to a greater concentration of supply from mid-March until now and causing prices to plummet. "In addition to the competition from Greece at the moment, production is also starting in the countries to which we export, such as the United Kingdom, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany. This is making it hard to sell the fruit at a time of high supply, which is putting downward pressure on prices, coinciding with a period of rising production costs as a result of the war in Iran," says Carlos Esteve.
"So we are expecting a difficult end to the season, with more fruit, more competition, and lower profit margins. The high prices in the first months of the season could make up for the season's average for those growers who had sufficient volumes at that time," he says.
However, blueberries are in a totally different situation from strawberries. "We've had blueberries available in Huelva since late November, and from January onwards, we've consistently had strong and stable volumes every week thanks to the growing production from our own FV's Mundo Azul variety program," says Carles Esteves.
"However, the harvest has generally been delayed by the impact of adverse winter weather, resulting in production shortfalls in both Spain and Morocco, although this has been compensated by prices that remain above last year's levels. From May onwards, we expect supply to increase," he says.
Raspberry production hasn't been as affected by the bad weather. "In general, raspberry supply has been limited so far, with a fairly balanced production curve, without concentrations of supply," says Carles 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
