The Huelva Association of Strawberry Growers and Exporters (Freshuelva) in Spain was able to maintain production volumes in 2013-14, but lower prices meant the values received dropped by 10.7%.

In a release, Freshuelva said production was similar at 278,900 metric tons (MT), despite an increase in hectare.

Sales dropped to €281.5 million (US$382.69 million), following 20% decline in the organization's strawberry sales in 2012-13.

Out of the strawberries picked, around 78.8% were traded as fresh while the rest went to industrial processing.

"The fresh production traded has been similar to last season, but it hasn't met the sector's initial expectations, which were announced at the beginning of the campaign with previsions of 300,000 (metric) tons of strawberries after having increased the surface area dedicate to the fruit by 6.7%, reaching 6,980 hectares," the release said.

"The fall in prices in European markets in March and April made it so that the campaign couldn't recover in the month of May, when competition with other spring-summer fruits - very early due to elevated temperatures - appeared at the end of the season.

"The main destinations for Huelva strawberries continue to be Germany and France, with 36% and 19% of total exports respectively."

In terms of other berries, the production of raspberries in Huelva increased 8% year-on-year to reach 11,480 metric tons (MT), with only a small fraction of that amount going to industrial use.

While prices fell slightly, the higher volume meant sales reached €76.1 million (US$103.4 million).

Photo: www.shutterstock.com

www.freshfruitportal.com