Spanish strawberry crop shrinks by 10%

Spain’s strawberry sector reported a total crop for the 2022-2023 campaign of 243,310 tons, down 10% from the previous year, according to data provided by the companies of the Association of Strawberry Producers and Exporters from Huelva, Freshuelva.

These figures reflect a campaign featuring ups and downs, significantly impacted by the weather, with excessive heat during planting and severe cold at the beginning of the year, which greatly reduced production.

As for the raspberry campaign, production reached 47,750 tons, which represents a drop of 4.5% compared to the previous campaign. The first part of the raspberry campaign was marked by low prices in the markets and the very strong competition from third countries such as Morocco.

The blueberry campaign also saw a 10% drop in production to a total of 53,190 tons, although the extended ending to the campaign allowed for some recovery. This lower production was due to the delay of cooler temperatures that did not allow for the accumulation of sufficient cold hours in the months of November, December and January. Then, the cold during the last weeks of February and early March reduced calibres. The recovery in production during April and May ran into strong competition in the markets.

Blackberry production remains at 2,000 tons, similar to the previous campaign.