Spanish farm-gate raspberry prices have fallen by about 50 per cent since the beginning of the year, as demand falls away in key export markets.

Growers are blaming slack demand in markets such as France and the Netherlands so far this year for the drop, although they say that the campaign is progressing better than at this point in the season last year.

One grower said that he was being paid €4 (2.97) a kilo at the beginning of the month, compared to €8-9 in December. “We usually see prices fall away a little after the festive season, but not this sharply,” he said. “That’s why we are hoping for an uplift by the end of the month.”

Very high temperatures in August last year had an adverse effect on summer plantings, causing widespread losses for some growers in the Huelva area and possibly explaining the strong pricing at the end of last year.

But according to another grower, the UK is the leading market for fresh raspberries. “It is possible that it is receiving too much fruit at the moment,” he said.

However, growers agree that this season fruit quality is good and the season to the end of December has been very favourable. According to grower-exporter association Freshuelva, the area under production has stabilised, with just a 2.5 per cent increase this year compared to much greater year-on-year growth in previous seasons. Raspberry area in the south-western region of Huelva now stands at 1,230 hectares, compared to 1,200ha last season.

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