But today Europe is no longer enough because the economic situation and the world have undergone a profound transformation. Globalization, new conservation technologies, rapid transport and the emerging production of wintering under LEDs in northern Europe have put the Huelva sector on alert regarding its commercial relations, the objective of which is to diversify and reach destinations outside the United States. the European Union.

In spite of this, the group of production remains in the Old Continent, although from the employers' association of the sector, it is very clear that expanding commercial horizons is' thinking about the future '.

One of the reasons given by Rafael Domínguez, manager of Freshuelva is “that we must anticipate future market projections because although Huelva does not increase its cultivated hectares and maintains a stability of 1 or 2% differential, we are witnessing growth of greenhouses with LED technology both in Holland and in Germany that will mean availability of their own product at the same time as the Huelva strawberry, very much in line with the trends of the current buyer who goes through consuming locally. "

The volumes exported in the 2019-2020 campaign confirm this fact, since of the 400.000 tons that left the national limits, only around 60.000 reached non-EU countries. The explosion of the pandemic in 2019 led to significant distortions in maritime traffic around the world, paralysis in ports, increases in freight rates and the absence of air traffic. And in this sense, berries, like the rest of fruits and vegetables, also suffered in their exports outside the EU

Germany: 80 million mouths

Germany, with a potential of 83 million inhabitants, is the main buyer of Spanish berries, with average purchases exceeding 250.000 tons and even exceeding 300.000 in 2016 and 2017.

United Kingdom: the king of raspberries

Once the situation of uncertainty due to the departure of the United Kingdom was clarified in extremis regarding the tariffs borne, it is expected that the commercial relationship with this country will continue with the same fluidity. In raspberry it is the main recipient with 34% of the total exported and in blueberry it is the second, with a 26% share. For now, it remains to be administratively resolved what will happen as of April 1 with the new phytosanitary regulation that the Anglo-Saxons mark.

French protectionism

The French production reaches 57.200 tons, a deficient figure for what is the average consumption of the French (2,6 kilos per capita) so it needs the Spanish purchase. Of course, France is the European country that always prioritizes its production and varieties above any other. Thus, it is noteworthy that the popular 'Garriguete' exceeds 10 euros per kilo on the shelf in front of the strawberry in Huelva, which does not reach 3 euros. This awareness to prioritize local production, for now and even after the covid, is almost unthinkable in the Spanish context.

It should be noted that historically this issue has led to differences and tensions between farmers in the two countries. The most recent rivalry has been embodied in the figure of the French leader of Carrefour who indicated on his social networks that the Spanish strawberry lacked flavor and recommended the consumption of French apples and kiwis, until the native strawberry arrived.

French production maintains its stability in the last five years and reaches 3.300 hectares.

The French operators hope that the current campaign will not go ahead as it happened in 2020 and that it will be from the month of April when the volumes begin to have size, reaching the peak of production around week 20, in May.

The Italian-Spanish feeling

Although Italy is a producing country, it is also a large domestic consumer, so "in addition to consuming their own strawberry, they are always willing to dispose of Spanish product with direct imports or through the Perpignan market, where the Huelva strawberry is marketed."

The latest data for 2021 also indicate that its productive area maintains an upward trend valued at 9% and totaling 3.962 hectares, favored, among other factors, by its constant internal consumption. Italy dedicates a large part of its production to trade within its own borders, so its export volume is not very high and amounted to around 2020 tonnes in 10.600. "

Spanish market

Long gone are the years in which the Huelva strawberry was better known outside our borders than in the national market, where the strawberry with a name was that of the local productions of Aranjuez or Valencia. It has been more than two decades since it began to consolidate itself in Spanish shelves thanks to the joint effort of producers, marketers and large distributors. The same avatars have had blueberries, raspberries and blackberries, products that less than 10 years ago were difficult to find in a Spanish supermarket.

Canada eats Spanish strawberry and Brazil eats blueberry

In less than six months, the activity of Huelva berries for speeding up the opening of new markets has been satisfactorily compensated: commercial agreements have been signed with Canada to export strawberries and with Brazil for blueberries.

The opening of the Canadian market does not have to wait and is now a reality. In this way, the Huelva strawberry has a destiny of almost 40 million inhabitants with high purchasing power. "The important thing now is to face the challenge of designing one or more trade routes that facilitate the arrival of the fruit at its destination in the best possible conditions of quality and flavor," they explain from Freshuelva.

The Canadian protocol follows a phytosanitary certificate that the Canadian Food Inspection Agency will process and which establishes that 100% of Spanish shipments will undergo physical inspections during a trial period, which will be stipulated a posteriori and will depend on the compliance rate.

The negotiations with Canada are framed in the free trade agreement (CETA) signed in 2017 by the EU and Canada, and which in the future will also address the negotiations to trade blueberries.

For their part, Brazilian officials in the field inspected several Euroberry and Medina Group blueberry plantations in November and corroborated in situ the procedures required by the export protocol in all its aspects, especially in the health sector. And finally, in January and after several years of negotiations, Brazil gave the green light to the Spanish product.

The total value of Huelva's blueberry exports was 317 million euros last season, representing an increase of 14%. Its volume reached 55.000 tons, being 2% lower than the previous year.

The sector continues to maintain its commercial challenges and continues to work on commercial opening processes with the two great Asian giants: India and China.

The high demand for blueberries is causing a powerful increase in the area planted in all producing countries such as Morocco, Chile, Mexico, Peru and the United States. In 2024, world consumption is expected to reach 1.400 million kilos.