The Spanish-French-Italian-Portuguese strawberry contact group met online on February 16 and estimated that in the 2021 campaign, Italy's production will grow by 9% and Spain's production will decrease by 2%. The group spoke about the difficulties caused by COVID in 2020, especially the stoppage of consumption during confinements, which in the case of France was overcome by a call to consume the national product.
The French sector, led by the head of the Association of Organizations of Strawberry Producers of France, AOP Fraise de France, Xavier Mas, highlighted that the area (3,299 hectares) and production (57,683 tons) in 2020 had remained stable when compared to the five previous years. In this campaign, France expects strong volumes starting April, and the campaign to peak by week 20.
The Italian sector, which was led by Pietro Ciardiello, from the OI Ortofruttailtalia, reported that they expected a 9% increase in area this year, totaling 3,962 hectares, and consequently also an increase in production. Italy dedicates a large part of its production to national consumption. As such, its export volume is not very high. In fact, the country only exported 10,672 tons in 2020, i.e. 17% less than in 2019. The volume of imports in 2020 decreased by 27%, totaling 30,364 tons. Spain is Italy's main supplier.
The representatives of the Portuguese sector that participated in the meeting stressed that Portugal only had 323 hectares devoted to strawberry and that their production stood at nearly 10,000 tons. They also said that the 2020 campaign had started badly due to COVID, but that it had improved throughout the year and that sale prices were higher than in 2019.
The manager of Freshuelva, Rafael DomÃnguez, intervened on behalf of the Spanish sector and said that the strawberry area had decreased by 2% this season, going from 6,217 hectares in 2020 to 6,105 hectares now. He also said 2020 had been a complicated campaign due to the pandemic and that there had been a 20% decrease in strawberry production, as well as a decrease in consumption.
Freshuelva and Fepex expressed their discomfort at the diversification of national laws regarding active ingredients, lack of exceptional authorizations, and phytosanitary products that can be used in different countries. They demanded the Community have a single-legislation, an opinion shared by the French, Italian, and Portuguese.
For more information:
Freshuelva
www.freshuelva.es
FEPEX
www.fepex.es