Freshuelva has reported that, according to data from the partner companies, they produced 221,412 tons of strawberries in the 2023-2024 campaign, i.e. 9% less than in the previous campaign.
These figures reflect a very complex strawberry campaign that began with restrictions on irrigation derived from persistent drought. This affected the plants' development resulting in a 9% global decrease and a slight price increase compared to last season. The rains in March allowed the campaign to end, but the heat in May affected the fruit's condition reducing the possibilities to export.
Other berries
The raspberry campaign ended with 40,288 tons, i.e. 15% less than in the previous campaign.
The area has decreased significantly due to the strong competition from third countries -like Morocco- that Freshuelva has been denouncing to the EU year after year in the hope that the EU establishes an entry tariff and demands compliance with mirror clauses. This situation is causing the crop to lose profitability and has decreased the supply, so the product has been marketed throughout the harvest period.
In contrast, blueberry production has grown by 10% to 58,509 tons because young plantations have entered production this year. In addition, the campaign has been prolonged thanks to early varieties that allow farmers to produce blueberries from the beginning of the year until July.
Finally, blackberry production remained stable at 2,135 tons and a slight 0.5% increase. This stability is because this crop has varieties that can be produced practically from January to December.
Export value
Strawberry production might have been low but the value of exports stabilized. As a result, the export value until May increased by 8% over the same period of the previous year surpassing 616 million euros.
The value of blueberry exports increased by up to 6%, standing at more than 231.6 million euros.
In contrast, the value of raspberry exports until May stood at almost 207 million euros, i.e. 7% less than in the previous season, and the blackberry export value fell by 5.90%, with a total of 13.5 million euros.
Germany and the United Kingdom continue to be the main destinations for Huelva berries. Despite Brexit, British strawberry imports surpassed French imports, which ranked third. The Netherlands is the third destination for Freshuelva's raspberries and blueberries.
For more information:
Freshuelva
Tel.: +34 959 248 222
[email protected]
https://freshuelva.es