Belgium: “Strawberries took some heavy punches this year”

The fruit season for Belgian Auction Borgloon is generally considered to be a mixed bag. Weather conditions weren’t out of the ordinary, but growers suffered some setbacks nonetheless. According to company periodical Eburo News, the weather was good, just not very timely. “The EVT strawberries were two weeks late in peaking, and the supply chain was a little wobbly, more spread out than usual. This caused prices to fluctuate.”

“For a number of years now, the Portola is our steady seller. But this season we didn’t get the usual flow, ending in September. The cool spring caused a remarkable peak in August, with low yields coming right after. Total output was great with 6,800 tons, but due to the peaks it was rough settling on a steady price. You can say that strawberries took some heavy punches this year.”

The prices of raspberries, blueberries, blackberries and red currants and were generally higher than last season. Especially with cherries there was a great increase of 27% compared to last year. According to Borgloon, extreme weather did affect the soft fruit sector. “There definitely was a much smaller harvest. I think the sector could benefit from some form of crop protection. The industry is still asking for quality items.”

www.eburon.be