Spanish strawberry producers are facing another disastrous season, with many being forced to discard fruit and dismantle farms two months before the end of the season due to plummeting prices, according to Huelvan grower-exporter association Freshuelva.
The organisation’s president, Alberto Garrocho, told F&H Hoy that the season so far had been worse than last year which was itself one of the worst in recent years. “Two weeks ago, prices were down 20 per cent on 2013, but now it is closer to 40 per cent,” he said.
Industry sources claimed that the price collapse is in part due to the political tensions in Russia and Ukraine which has resulted in more fruit being diverted to traditional European markets causing oversupply. Speaking at the end of March, Julian Scott, sales manager for fruit at Total Produce said a punnet of Spanish strawberries had been selling for £0.30 when it was usually between £0.60 and £0.80. He said a combination of warm weather in Spain and the situation in Russia – which has closed off one of Spain's largest markets – was behind the fall.
With prices now barely reaching €0.30 per kg – well below the cost of production – Freshuelva is advising growers to take the necessary course of action to ensure that losses are kept to a minimum. However, Garrocho claimed companies had a responsibility to destroy fruit rather than marketing it at below-cost prices, which would have negative repercussions for the entire industry.
Garrocho claimed that the collapse in prices had led to a “significant volume” of fruit being thrown away and many producers opting to take down farms in order to save on the cost of labour and harvesting.
Growers in the province of Huelva, where around 96 per cent of Spain’s strawberry production is concentrated, were banking on a positive 2014 campaign to make up for the poor returns they received last year. In 2013 the sector saw a 10 per cent fall in output and 20 per cent drop in prices compare with the previous year, ending the campaign with a production total of 274,800 tonnes and sales of €315m. In spite of the poor season, Huelva’s strawberry acreage increased by 2 per cent this year to 6,980ha.
Garrocho pointed out that although a small proportion of discarded fruit is being used for processing, the factories are unable to deal with the high volume currently available and the bulk is therefore going to waste.
