Strawberry growers in the Andalusian province of Huelva, one of the principal berry production areas in Spain, have achieved a largely positive result for this year’s export campaign, thanks in the main to producers receiving good prices for their fruit.
Andalusia’s regional government said the 2010/11 strawberry campaign, which finished at the end of May, delivered a “positive” result for growers, with the “exceptional quality” of this season’s crop generating stronger prices than those received in previous years, from the beginning to the close of the campaign.
Although final volumes this season were 12 per cent lower than those recorded during the 2009/10 campaign, dropping from 285,000 tonnes to 252,237 tonnes, producers are confident of equalling last years’s turnover of €209.7m, with the price compensating for the slight fall in production.
While the strawberry campaign largely avoided the after-effects of the ‘cucumber crisis’, which has seen prices for fruits and vegetables slump across Europe, the Andalusian authorities said the close of the raspberry season was brought forward due to the poor prices being received in its final weeks.
Blueberries, which are currently in mid-season in Huelva, are also understood to have been adversely affected by the market situation.
Huelva exports around 85 per cent of its annual strawberry production, principally to EU countries. This year, the quota sold in the Spanish domestic market rose slightly, due to France importing greater volumes from Morocco and Germany increasing its own production levels.
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