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.

"Blueberries have been the star of the range of berries this campaign"

“Fortunately, this year's blueberry campaign has been completely different from what was initially expected, after several difficult consecutive 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 undoubtedly been the star product this year in the range of berries. Prices have remained stable thanks, in part, to the fact that the weather has been colder and rainier than usual in April, making production very progressive and stable, with no 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, the producers and exporters of Huelva work with the late blueberry varieties. "Now we are selling late varieties that guarantee high quality levels and we hope to continue marketing with good volumes until the end of June. For now, in the countries to which we supply blueberries, they 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

"The Spanish raspberry is currently experiencing slow demand and falling prices. In the first place, it should be noted that in this period of the year summer fruit and exotics begin to occupy the shelves and take space away 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 over," says Manuel Cerpa.

In addition, the raspberry harvests in the main European countries of destination are beginning to displace the Spanish raspberry 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 UK, Italy, Germany and France, among others."

Many farmers are already halting their harvests as prices are below the cost of production. "In just three weeks I don't think there will be room for Spanish or Portuguese raspberries in the export markets anymore," 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 the Spanish production has arrived at once. Bearing in mind that the blackberry 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.