Strawberry supplies were running tight in the UK this week as availability from Egypt ground to a halt and importers were left waiting for a late start to the Spanish season.
John Grieve of importer Lisons was expecting his first arrivals of Spanish strawberries on 3 February. “What we don’t know is if there will be continuity,” he said. “They have had a lot of cold with low night-time temperatures and a lot of grey days with poor light levels in Spain.”
Sendings from the main production area in Huelva are not likely to come on stream in volume until mid-February. Information released by the agriculture office of the regional executive indicates that the season was already running late before a cold snap between 17 and 23 January led to delays in plant maturity causing a further 10-15 day lag.
Fruit quality however, is not affected. “It just takes time for the plants to recover from the cold,” explained Grieve. “The crop is recovering slowly and they have been getting better, more stable weather this week.”
The situation is aggravated by the abrupt halt to sendings from Egypt due to political protests. Although the season has only another two weeks to run from the north African country, the late arrival of Spanish fruit and insufficient volume from Morocco to meet demand is likely to mean a shortage for the Valentine’s Day market next weekend, suggested Grieve.
