The Spanish blueberry has had a satisfactory campaign despite the circumstances and the fears that existed before the harvest started, with the memory of the results of the previous year. Raspberry has noticed increased competition from Morocco and Portugal and is now facing stagnant demand and prices under pressure, as has blackberry, whose production has come late and suddenly. BerryDealer's partner Manuel Cerpa makes an assessment of the current situation of the berries Spanish people.

«The blueberry has been the star of the berry range this campaign»

«Fortunately, this year's blueberry campaign has been completely different from what was initially expected, after several consecutive difficult years. We can say that it has been a good year for farmers, compared to the previous one, in which a lot of money was lost in this sector. The blueberry has been, without a doubt, this year's star product in the range of berries. It has remained at stable prices thanks, in part, to the fact that the weather has been colder and rainier than usual in April, making production very progressive and stable, without some varieties overlapping with others on dates when they usually occur. production peaks," explains the commercial manager of BerryDealer.

Manuel Cerpa and Pablo González, partners of BerryDealer.

At the moment, Huelva producers and exporters are working with late blueberry varieties. «We are now selling late varieties that guarantee high quality levels and we hope to continue marketing with good volumes until the end of June. For now, the countries to which we supply blueberries do not expect to have significant quantities until the end of this month, so we will be able to take advantage of this window.

The Spanish raspberry begins to be displaced in the export markets

«Spanish raspberries are currently experiencing slow demand and falling prices. First of all, it should be noted that during this period of the year, summer fruit and exotics begin to occupy the shelves and take up space from the berries. On the other hand, there is a rebound in production in Huelva at the moment and Portugal still has supply, while Morocco, which has offered tough competition this year, is almost finishing,” says Manuel Cerpa.

Furthermore, raspberry harvests in the main European destination countries are beginning to displace Spanish raspberries even more. "The Netherlands and Belgium have been harvesting greenhouse raspberries for about a month now, but now they are starting outdoor crops in the United Kingdom, Italy, Germany and France, among others."

Many farmers are already stopping their harvests, as prices are below the cost of production. "In just three weeks I don't think there will be any room left for Spanish or Portuguese raspberries in export markets," he adds.

Blackberry production is crowded and sales are complicated

Blackberry production normally reaches its highest volumes from the end of April and the month of May in Spain, Morocco and Portugal. During the rest of the calendar, in the autumn and winter months, there are hardly any companies from these countries - except for one producer - that can supply blackberry for lack of the varieties and adequate technical knowledge.

«This year there has been an atypical situation, since we have had consistent volumes for air cargo until January and then we have had a shortage of product until just over two weeks ago, in which all Spanish production came at once. Taking into account that the default market is much smaller than that of other berries and that at the moment there is a lot of competition on the shelves with other products, it is being a difficult spring for sales," concludes Manuel Cerpa.