The strawberry campaign is currently in its final stages in the Spanish province of Huelva and will continue in northern Spain, where much smaller, though slightly higher, volumes are produced each year. Meanwhile, blueberry and raspberry volumes remain strong, although a downward trend is expected in the coming weeks.

"We'll finish harvesting strawberries from Huelva in week 23 and immediately move on to the first harvests in Salamanca, which are more focused on the domestic market, as production is much lower compared to Huelva. Furthermore, during the spring and summer months, local strawberries are available in many of the European countries to which we export in the fall and winter," says Carlos Esteve, commercial director of Onubafruit.

Abundant and continuous rainfall, along with numerous cloudy days, have been key during the first four months of the season. "Due to excessive humidity and lack of light, we have had lower-than-expected volumes in the first part of the season, and we have also had to deal with more quality issues than usual, with higher losses and rejections at destination," he explained.

"In the second half of the season, starting in mid-April, we've had good productivity, and thanks to the good weather in the countries we export to, there's been strong demand. Starting in mid-May, this good weather at our destination has contributed to local crops arriving earlier, resulting in a drop in exports," said Carlos Esteve.

Low yields in the first part of the season have been offset by higher prices than in previous seasons, although costs continue to rise, especially for labor.

Regarding blueberries, Onubafruit sells around 1400 tons per week. "Currently, we have significant volumes, since, although the blueberry production campaign has been considerably extended with various varieties, peak production is reached between mid-April and the end of May. In our case, we have many plantings of new varieties, so this year we started to have good volumes earlier than usual, and there has been less concentration of supply, which has allowed us to obtain very satisfactory commercial results," says the commercial director of Onubafruit.

Since this year's supply of blueberries has been less saturated in the markets, prices have also been less volatile. "Fifteen years ago, blueberries were only produced from March to May, and this year we started in early November and will finish at the end of July in Huelva. From then on, we will continue production in northern Spain," stated Carlos Esteve.

Onubafruit produces raspberries practically year-round. "We'll have a good supply until the end of June. This year, supply has been more concentrated in the fall, and even more so in May. Despite this, the market has responded well to demand," said Carlos Esteve.