Though it seems like spring is coming, the consumer isn't quite there yet in terms of soft fruit. "At the moment we're waiting for demand to increase," says Johan van Alphen, soft fruit purchaser for Special Fruit. "This could change at any moment. This is mainly for raspberries and blueberries. It's good weather at the moment, but the nights are still cold. If the sun continues to shine over the next few weeks, the demand will probably increase."
Raspberries
He says that January went fine, but the market has been on the weak side since February. "Sometimes you can't really figure out why, but you notice it everywhere. Customers in various countries, on the wholesale markets and in the supermarket. We now have Spanish and Mexican raspberries. Portugal will soon start for us. So there is some available, but the prices are under pressure due to the demand not being that great. There aren't extreme volumes on the market, but the sales need to pull up a little. What's standing in the way for certain importing countries is the high dollar exchange rate."
Blueberries
Blueberries are a similar story. "They're coming from South America at the moment. They're already sending less over here, but this has little effect. Everyone has been saying that they will continue to get more expensive for weeks, but the demand isn't increasing. Spain and Morocco are now joining as origins. They're quite aggressive with prices if you look at the volumes they have. Spain is at around the same price level as Chile, but Spanish product is a lot fresher. Spain has hardly even started yet and the prices are already under pressure. The real volumes are expected around April/May, so we're wondering how it will go then. In Spain they have the early variety Snowchase which will finish next week. But now we'll see if that actually happens, as we also thought this a number of weeks ago. An increase in prices would be quite normal before the Spanish season really bursts loose."
Special Fruit is a year round supplier of strawberries and other soft fruit. The largest part is exported and marketed under the brand BerryFresh.
For more information:
Johan Van Alphen
Special Fruit
Europastraat 36
2321 Meer - Belgium
Tel: +32-(0)3 3301792
Fax: +32-(0)3 3150843
www.specialfruit.be