International food trade journal Foodnews has reported a major downturn in the volume of berries available for the processing sector this year, following a notable fall in production in key supply countries Chile and Serbia.
Frozen raspberry volumes were said to be particularly scarce, with Chile's harvest down 28 per cent this year at 46,000 tonnes.
As a result, Chile exported far less in the first half of the year, pushing prices up on international markets.
Sendings to Europe fell sharply – by 77 per cent to Germany, by 65 per cent to the Netherlands, by 57 per cent to Belgium and by 32 per cent to the UK.
Serbia's ministry of agriculture, meanwhile, has reported a 40 per cent decrease in the south-east European country's output to 55,000.
A crop of 90,000 tonnes had been expected in Serbia, the world's leading exporter of the fruit, but severe frosts during the winter cut that forecast.
