Los blueberries Huelva is experiencing a boom. The planted area has grown to its highest level since the pandemic, and the increase in farmgate prices has offset the rise in production costs.

Cultivating one hectare of land requires an investment of €64.159, 2,9% more than the previous season. As for production, one kilogram represents an initial outlay of €3,99 for the farmer, who sells the harvest at an average price of €4,99/kg. Their profit margin is one euro per kilogram, the best in recent seasons. Production costs have risen to a new high, but farmgate prices have increased accordingly.

The workforce is, as in the rest of berriesThe biggest cost a farmer has to face. More than two out of every three euros a producer invests when cultivating a crop hectare of blueberry It is dedicated to hiring day laborers who will be dedicated to applying supplies, transporting or collecting, among other tasks.

The cost of plant protection products increased by 0,69% during the last season. The red spider mite is currently the most pressing pest affecting soft fruit crops. Disease control represents an investment of €1.300 per hectare, most of which goes towards the purchase of plant protection treatments.

Production is growing and moving forward

Huelva produced 11,9% more blueberries in the 2024-25 season than the average of the previous four seasons. Production increased to 66.600 tons, nine thousand more than the previous season.

With this growth, the province positions Spain as the second largest producer in the European Union, second only to Poland, which leads by less than two percentage points (32% vs. 33,7% market share). The key question is whether Poland can overtake Spain in the coming years, although this seems unlikely, as Poland is actively promoting the development of this red fruit.

Although Poland is the leading producer in the EU, it is not the top seller within the EU. That position belongs to Spain, with a 19% market share across the 27 member states, although the Netherlands follows closely behind with 18,8% of total imports and achieves better profitability than the sales of companies in Huelva (21% compared to 19,8%).

Morocco allows you to keep up the pace

Identified as a rival by producers in Eastern Andalusia due to unfair competition in the tomato trade, Moroccan agriculture is an ally in the case of red fruits, as it allows the export rate of blueberries from Spain to the European Union to be maintained.

Andalusia sells more blueberries than it produces, making imports from Morocco—two out of every three kilos the region buys—vital. The region purchased 19.247 tons from other producing countries in 2024, the last year for which DATACOMEX provides data.