According to the latest insights from the IFAPA Prices and Markets Observatory, the Spanish strawberry campaign is currently underperforming. Production levels are reaching only 9% of the expected 20% at this stage. The primary cause of this shortfall is attributed to water scarcity which is exacerbated by a 50% reduction in agricultural water usage and insufficient rainfall. In the second week of February, strawberry production dropped by 14% compared to the previous week.
Despite the production decrease, strawberry prices have not seen an improvement, they are continuing their downward trend. In the specified week, prices fell by 8% compared to the previous week. These prices are below the average price recorded in recent campaigns for this period.
Strawberries are now sold at €2.04/kilo, a decline from €2.22/kilo the week before and significantly lower than the above €3/kilo price in the past campaign. This trend is not only observed domestically but also impacts Huelva's strawberry export prices, which have decreased by up to 12% in Germany (a key market), while prices in France remain unchanged.
Blueberry prices have also experienced a decline, they dropped by 4.8% from the previous week. This marks a challenging start to their campaign. However, raspberry production and pricing seem to be stable, their levels are comparable to previous years albeit with a slight 0.4% price decrease in the second week of February.
Source: blueberriesconsulting.com
