Last week, the thermometer exceeded 30 degrees Celsius in the Spanish soft fruit region of Huelva. "It's been very hot for ten days, resulting in large supplies. It was a lot cooler in Northwest Europe, causing a price stagnation and an accumulation of strawberries over the holidays. We even stopped picking for a few days, to prevent a surplus," says Jan van Bergeijk of Frutas Remolino, which is part of Spanish soft fruit group Plusberries.
Within the group, Jan is commercially responsible for raspberries, growing raspberries on a 20 hectare acreage, and strawberries on a 15 hectare acreage. The Frutas Remolino soft fruit mainly finds its way to European destinations such as France, Germany, the United Kingdom and Scandinavia. In view of the fact that Spain has become a lot cooler and weather forecasts for Northwest Europe being sunny this week, Jan is optimistic about the market recovering. "Until Wednesday last week, when there was a spike in production, demand had always been good. Now the temperature during the day is fluctuating around 20-22 degrees again, and growing circumstances are a lot better."
Raspberries, blackberries, blueberries
Contrary to the strawberries, raspberries are in short supply at the moment, so good prices are being made this year so far. The same situation applies to blackberries, of which Jan isn't expecting any large volumes on the market until May. "Due to the dollar exchange rate, it's not interesting to fly to Europe from Mexico. All in all, that results in a shortage of raspberries and blackberries. The blueberry season has hardly started, but these low productions are already making good prices. Within a day or so, larger volumes will be available. I do expect good demand for Spanish blueberries," Jan concludes.
For more information:
Frutas Remolino
Jan van Bergeijk
T +34 609 01 66 54
Raspberry@plusberries.com
www.plusberries.com