At present, 33% of the approximately 290,000 tonnes of strawberries expected this campaign have already been harvested, given the much greater than usual volumes obtained in January and February due to the high temperatures recorded.
Because of this, strawberry prices plummeted in December and remained low in January and February. Now, prices are recovering, although they still remain 15% below those of mid-March last year.
"We hope the plants to be at full capacity within a week, as usual for this time of the year. The month of March has given a much better start, with more suitable temperatures, cooler nights and plenty of sunshine, which will guarantee consistency in the fruit's quality. Gone are the months of January and February, during which we suffered the impact of some case of botrytis due to the high humidity," explains Rafael Domínguez, manager of Freshuelva.
According to the representative, last week there was market demand and less fruit than expected. Right now, "demand is starting to increase as the weather conditions improve in Europe; a trend that will continue in the coming weeks until Easter."
While Morocco's volumes keep declining, as its campaign is coming to an end, Spanish strawberries will start competing soon with local production in the Netherlands, which is already increasing its volumes, and Belgium. Italy and France also hope to produce significant volumes from next week. The campaign is starting earlier in almost all European countries.
Strawberry plantings continue to decline in Huelva to the detriment of other berries, such as raspberries and blueberries, due to water scarcity as a limiting factor in the County of Huelva.
