A United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) study of fresh strawberries in the European Union has revealed that total fruit production for the bloc stood at 1.09m tonnes during 2007, with over 800,000 tonnes sold as fresh produce. The 2008 forecast is pegged at 1.12m tonnes from a harvested area of 96,500ha.
Spanish growers continue to lead the way, producing 264,000 tonnes in 2007, with 190,000 tonnes of fresh strawberries exported to EU member states. In 2008, Spain is expected to grow 265,000 tonnes of strawberries from 6,500ha of cultivated area, the USDA said.
Poland recorded total crop of 175,000 tonnes during 2007 making it the second largest EU producer, although over 120,000 tonnes went towards processing rather than fresh strawberry sales. Italy and Germany also produced over 100,000 tonnes of strawberries in 2007,
The EU imported a total of 40,453 tonnes of fresh strawberries during 2007 to supplement supply, a drop on 41,069 tonnes in 2006, with Morocco the leading partner country in volume terms with 20,635 tonnes exported.
EU exports also fell, down to 24,564 tonnes in 2007 from 27,941 tonnes the previous year. Russia (9,241 tonnes) and Switzerland (9,052 tonnes) were the leading importers of fresh strawberries.
