North America Edition
Australian growers at the Berry Quest conference in the Yarra Valley were told overproduction of strawberries could lead to a glut. Professor Adam Dale from Canada's University of Guelph told growers last week it was likely growers needed to look to other berries to remain viable. Prof Dale said overproduction in the US had been a problem for years, and could become a problem in Australia if growers did not explore and market other berries.
He also said global warming could push berry production out of Queensland, and even the Yarra Valley, and into the alpine regions.
"It will likely become too hot to produce berries around most of Australia, and many other parts of the world, and we will need to look at what varieties and growing areas will allow continued production," Prof Dale said.
"We may have to look at growing wild berries, which are hardier ... and could be bred for eating."
Stuart Burgess from HAL spoke about marketing, urging growers to consider their entire industry as their "branding department".
"We will never compete on price, it's just not our space," he said. "We need to focus on our produce as being a premium product.
"We need to do a lot more consolidated marketing. We are long way behind the rest of the world as far as that's concerned."
Professor David Hughes, from the Berry Gardens in the UK, spoke about global consumer trends.
"Combined marketing, such as marketing berries as something to have with yoghurt or chocolate, is a good way of increasing consumption," Mr Hughes said.
"Fresh berries are indulgent but affordable and we're very lucky they already have a sexy image."
Prof Hughes said strawberries were the most consumed berry, but blueberries were the most "snackable" as they weren't messy, had a good shelf life and were seen as a superfood.
"The industry needs to tap into this."
"They're not messy, you just pop them in your mouth, they have a good shelf life, and everyone sees them as a superfood," he said.
Source: weeklytimesnow.com.au
Announcements
Vacancies
- VP Growing Operations
- Export Trade Manager
- Head Grower Strawberries, Australia
- Growing Manager for Hydroponic strawberry producer
- Sales Manager
- Regional Sales Manager Fresh Produce
- Head Grower Strawberries, Norway
- Außendienstmitarbeiter Substraten
- Business Developer - Northern Europe
- Orchard Sector Manager
Specials more
AU: Strawberry growers warned for overproduction
Publication date:
Receive the daily newsletter in your email for free | Click here
Other news in this sector:
- 2023-09-29 “We are constantly trialing 200+ snacking vegetable varieties”
- 2023-09-28 Snacking tomatoes now available for food service
- 2023-09-26 AI powered greenhouse outperforms Dutch growers
- 2023-09-25 New greenhouses covering 6000 sq m to grow Kiwi Plants
- 2023-09-25 Fewer investments in covers despite climate change
- 2023-09-25 "This farm was sold out as soon as it opened"
- 2023-09-22 “Geothermal energy will stabilize energy and retail prices throughout the year”
- 2023-09-21 Far North grower forced to diversify crops due to strawberry shortage
- 2023-09-21 "We want to bring the greenhouses to the consumers"
- 2023-09-19 Robots grow, process and package lettuce for Nordic Greens in a high-tech greenhouse
- 2023-09-19 Labor dispute at Turkish greenhouse Agrobay sparks protests and police intervention
- 2023-09-18 Significant growth in Mexico’s greenhouse vegetable industry
- 2023-09-18 Status of Almeria's and Granada's greenhouse at the start of September
- 2023-09-18 Dutch greenhouses in Puglia? The state-of-the-art of intensive crops
- 2023-09-15 GoodLeaf's Calgary vertical farm in full production
- 2023-09-13 CAN (ON): OGVG celebrates region with launch of 'Greenhouse Goodness campaign
- 2023-09-11 "Winds of over 100km/hr, and our greenhouse didn't suffer any damage"
- 2023-09-11 Dutch grower holds Dinner in the Sky with spectacular aerial view of greenhouses
- 2023-09-07 County government of Kirinyaga aims at increasing tomato production
- 2023-09-06 CEA grower continues on 100-acre expansion plan
