The berry campaign is taking shape in Huelva. Even though it started late, the situation is now more stable and the volumes are already similar to those of last year, while prices remain reasonable.
"In our case, we are very happy with the quality of the fruit so far," says Sergio Sainz, CCO commercial director of Cuna de Platero. “We are one of the companies that started the campaign with the San Andreas variety, which is grown between late November and January and is one of the varieties with the most reliable quality and flavor at this time of the year. This allows us to enter the markets before our competitors with excellent quality fruit, which is ideal for the customers and also for our producers."
While it is true that Egypt has been increasing its production in the months of November and December, the country is not yet proving to be an important competitor for this cooperative. “We already have our markets, and we don't have a great production at that time of the year. The clients we work with always prefer Spanish fruit, since they consider it to have better quality. When it comes to raspberries, however, we have been dealing with great competition from Morocco in the month of December. The presence of raspberries from this country, where the production volume has increased, is already becoming remarkable.”
According to Sergio Sainz, last week's situation was stable for both strawberries and raspberries. "This is something you don't see often in the berry sector; prices have been very reasonable thanks to a very balanced supply and demand."
In the recently concluded 2019, Cuna de Platero has managed to supply strawberries, raspberries and blueberries to Spanish supermarket chains during the 365 days of the year. “Due to the year-round demand for fruit from our domestic customers, we developed the Your Global Berry Partner strategy, starting with strawberry production in Ávila, where we have the necessary infrastructure and resources for it. Based on the good results obtained, our customers have also been demanding raspberries and blueberries throughout the year. We are working to get varieties that will allow us to produce in Huelva 365 days a year, something that is currently not possible. In order to provide the best service to our customers, we have complemented the supply of blueberries with productions from other areas, namely northern Spain, Peru or Chile.”
Blackberries are the only fruit in our product range that we are still unable to supply all year round. This is a pending subject for companies in this sector. “We need varieties that are productive throughout the year. We have tried to import from other origins, but the varieties and the quality on arrival are not good enough to meet the quality standards we work with."
Cuna de Platero closed the latest season after having marketed 46,000 tons of strawberries, 2,500 tons of raspberries, 3,000 tons of blueberries and 150 tons of blackberries. 20% of these are shipped to the domestic market, while around 80% is intended for export. "We handle a volume that makes us a representative company in the sector, which allows us to work with customers who really appreciate the quality and service with which we work in Cuna de Platero," says Sergio Sainz. "The main challenge for us is to maintain the fruit's quality standards, as well as the quality of the service we provide to our customers. To this end, it is essential to continue improving our work in the fields and to keep investing in the research and development of new varieties."
For more information:
Sergio Sainz (CCO Commercial Director)
Cuna de Platero
Camino de Montemayor, s/n. Moguer, Huelva. Spain
T: +34 959372125
M:+34 606828659
sergiosainz@cunadeplatero.com
www.cunadeplatero.com