Spain: Price increase saves the strawberry season

The strawberry campaign in the province of Huelva was completed yesterday and employers stressed the "special complexity" of this year due to two factors: the devastating winter storm that brought loses of up to 10 million kilos of early fruit (about 30 million Euros), and certain campaigns from Europe which criticized, among other things, the use of pesticides and the lack of rights of seasonal workers during the harvest.

Alberto Garrocho, president of the Association of Producers and Exporters of Huelva Strawberry (Freshuelva) reported yesterday some figures in the absence of the final results of production: the tons of strawberry collections this year fell by 10% to 12%, that means that from the 245 000 tons of fruit produced the previous season, this year it will fall to a maximum of 220 500.

The good news, according Freshuelva, is that prices increased by 5% to 6%, due to the decrease of produce. According Garrocho the final profit of this year will be very similar to that of 2009. He still lamented, "This year we had more expectations."