Global Market Overview Strawberries

With the changing weather most regions see a slight decrease in demand for strawberries, which are mostly eaten during the summer period. In the Netherlands there is enough product available on the market to supply customers, but supply is nicely balanced with demand. Belgians still see decent pricing for strawberries even though volumes have increased a bit. Spain is anticipating the start of next season with the beginning of the planting phase in the region of Huelva. In France they see prices that are relatively low and demand is not very strong, as it is every year at this time. German traders saw that some regions experienced crop failures due to heavy and sometimes prolonged rainfall. The autumn strawberry harvest in Italy appears satisfactory. They see that from the end of September to the beginning of October strawberries had high producer prices.

Greece is preparing for a big crop in the second half of the strawberry season. The Egyptian strawberry season starts soon, in November. The sector continues to suffer from climatic and economic factors. In North America heat and hurricanes have impacted strawberry supply. The main strawberry season in South Africa is coming to an end. Once the weather gets too hot, the crop dwindles, and only the Southern and Western Cape crop continues into summer.

Netherlands: Strawberry supply nicely balanced with demand

The supply peaks that sometimes occur in the strawberry market in October in other years are absent this year, says a Dutch fruit trader. "There is enough product available on the market to supply customers, but supply is nicely balanced with demand,' he says. After strawberry prices were very poor at the beginning of the autumn season last year, growers planted later this year. In addition, due to the cold weather, growers in the tunnels stopped earlier than last year. Then we had summer weather in September and early October and growers in the tunnels were able to continue longer both here and in the UK, which is now a big export market. Prices are at a good level. In other years, you would often see sharp promotions scheduled during this period, but that is not really the case now, although it may well be that some larger volumes become available in the next two weeks. Day prices today are around €5-6 per kilo. In the Netherlands, packaged greenhouse strawberries in promotion are on the shelves for 7.50 euros per kilo, in the UK converted to 13.50 euros. The quality and brix of the strawberries is generally good, although we do need light during the day to keep the brix values up. If that goes away and the night temperatures remain high, we could get into a bit more of a mess qualitatively."

Belgium: No more sky-high prices but still decent

September's sky-high strawberry prices in Belgium are now behind us. "The volume has increased again a bit, but we are still working with decent prices", says a Belgian trader. "Even the small strawberries are getting good prices, so we can still say that we are not having a bad autumn so far. Volumes will increase in the coming period, but still not so extreme that we will see weak prices. I also understand that there is still demand from the trade, so that is always good."

Spain: More than 360 million strawberry plants will be planted throughout October in Huelva

In Huelva, the planting phase of the 360 to 370 million strawberry plants for this campaign has begun, which will be planted at a rate of about 9 million plants per day throughout the month of October.

"This year, we hope the autumn will be rainy and leave precipitation not only in October, but in the following months, because like last year we are faced with restrictions of 25% in the water available for irrigation and we want to avoid at all costs the same thing that happened last season, when in May the reduction of water for irrigation went to 50% and there were plantations that had to finish producing early," says an operator in the sector.

Certainly the 2023/24 berry campaign faced serious difficulties. As pointed out by the Junta de Andalucía, the replanting of the strawberries was postponed due to meteorological factors, so until the end of January the volume marketed was very limited; All this in a context of drought and with cuts in irrigation supplies at the beginning of 2024.

In February, the first rains of the campaign came, which led to the recovery of the volumes to be marketed. However, later, in spring, there was abundant rain that ended up affecting the harvest, so that at the end of March and during the month of April, the volumes of strawberries marketed suffered considerable losses.

Despite all this, the 2023/24 season concluded with an increase of 2% in volume and 10% in value for Andalusian strawberry exports, with accumulated data from December to July.

"As for the surface area, according to the data we have, it is expected that this year the strawberry surface area will remain the same, perhaps with a slight decrease," the operator continues to explain.

"Huelva stands out in the European strawberry market for both its volume and its quality. It is true that in December and January Morocco has a peak in fresh strawberry production, which coincides with us at a time of the campaign when there are starting to be volumes of Spanish strawberries; but the big business for Moroccan strawberries is in the processing industry, and in February and March the country mostly uses the end-of-campaign strawberries for processing, so that in the busiest months of the campaign, from February to April, before European production begins, Huelva is practically alone in the strawberry market in Europe." Last year, those months accounted for, in fact, more than 77% of the volume of the entire campaign.

"In addition, there is a very important factor that must be taken into account, and that is that in those cold months the water needs for irrigation are generally lower, so if we continue to have a 25% reduction in irrigation, we will be able to get through the most important part of the campaign without major problems."

France : Weak demand in strawberries

There are currently French strawberries on the market, which are just finishing the season. Other origins are Spain and a few Belgian strawberries. Prices are relatively low and demand is not very strong, as it is every year at this time. Even if the weather was sunny for a few days, it wasn't enough to boost demand, as since the start of the school year, consumers have been turning mainly to seasonal produce.

Germany: Strawberry acreage continued to decline and heavy rainfall caused crop failures

Domestic production cannot meet the high demand. That is why Germany imports large quantities of strawberries from abroad. Last year, around 114,010 tons of strawberries were imported. Most strawberries come from Spain and Greece. One reason for this development is the further decline in the amount of arable land available for growing strawberries in the open air, which fell by 13 percent year-on-year to around 8,100 hectares. In addition, some regions experienced crop failures due to heavy and sometimes prolonged rainfall.

The strawberry harvest in Germany in 2024 was expected to be even smaller than in the already very poor harvest year of 2023. According to an initial estimate by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), agricultural businesses expect a harvest of around 70,000 tons of strawberries from outdoor cultivation. This would be the lowest harvest volume since 1995 (68,800 tons). The estimated outdoor strawberry harvest in July was thus 24 percent below the already low strawberry harvest of 92,700 tons in 2023 and 34 percent below the average outdoor harvest of 106,600 tons in the years 2018 to 2023.

This week, prices for domestic berries are at 8.57 EUR/kilo, which is a significant increase compared to the previous year (4.43 EUR/kilo).

Italy: Strawberry prices still satisfactory

The autumn strawberry harvest is a very satisfactory period. A grower in the Marche region, who grows more than 26,000 plants in a soilless environment, says that from the end of September to the beginning of October strawberries had high producer prices, up to €10/kg. Then, in mid-October, they fell a little, to around €7-8, which is still very satisfactory. The grower also reports that the harvest started on 28 September and will continue until 10-15 November, depending on the weather. Almost all the autumn production is delivered to a wholesaler in the area, who then supplies the various specialist shops. Having a recognisable and territorial brand helps to keep customers loyal.

With the planting of pot plant strawberry seedlings now complete, the planting of fresh seedlings is underway in southern Italy. This work will continue until the end of the month and will be completed in the last few days of the year; the pot plant varieties, on the other hand, will start at November. There are no precise figures yet on the area invested in the coming strawberry season, but it is estimated that the number of hectares will be higher than last year. In particular, the demand for seedlings indicates an increase in areas in both Basilicata and Campania. The plant material now being distributed, mainly from Spain and Poland, is looking good. The weather has also been favourable for good development and rooting of the seedlings.

According to data from GfK | YouGov, the percentage of Italian households that have bought strawberries at least once in the last 12 months (ending August 2024) has risen to 69%. The frequency of purchase remains virtually constant at almost 7 times a year: most families buy strawberries mainly between March and May. The amount spent per purchase is increasing due to the general increase in the price of FMCG products.

UK: Inclement weather reduced volumes by 30%

The UK's strawberry season saw its usual peaks and troughs through the summer, but the milder dull weather meant brix levels were very good. "June was fine, but three weeks in August were very bad as we had too much volume and not enough sales," said a grower in the south of England. "Production at the moment is very low due to inclement weather. September was pretty bad with not enough sunshine hours. This meant a 30% reduction in yields." That said volumes are in line with the time of the year, but a bit more sunshine would be nice. Brix levels have continued to be good all season due to the poor weather. Demand in the UK is steady and should remain stable. There is some competition from imported fruit, but everyone is experiencing the same weather.

Greece: Big crops expected in second half of the season

Greece is preparing for a big crop in the second half of the strawberry season. Victory plantations start producing relatively early, especially in recent years when the climate in the country seems to have changed significantly, with mild winter months. Victory is dominant inside the Greek strawberry greenhouses. Since 2016, when Victory was first cultivated in Greece, till today the interest of the growers has been constantly increasing and to date has maybe surpassed 75-80% of the total cultivation area, which numbers about 2.100-2.200 hectares.

The expansion of Victory in Greece stays on track this season and if adverse weather phenomena do not occur, an even bigger Greek strawberry crop than last year during the Victory period is expected. The interest was bigger than last year, both for bare-root strawberries and for ready-grown plants in trays.

Egypt: Strawberries suffer from climatic and economic factors

The Egyptian strawberry season starts soon, in November. The sector continues to suffer from climatic and economic factors, which have a particular impact on fresh strawberries. Growers had trouble sourcing quality plants, leading to a sharp decrease in fresh strawberry acreage. One grower says, "I estimate that acreage is down 25% on the previous season. However, fresh strawberry plants have been replaced by those destined for the frozen sector, so the total area is more or less stable."

The drop in volumes of fresh strawberries compared with frozen strawberries is due to plant quality issues, as well as the good prices received by frozen strawberries last season.

North America: California heat takes toll on strawberries in North America

While strawberry supply from California is readily available, there are quality concerns. This follows a very warm spell in central California from September 27-October 8.

In Salinas-Watsonville, which has a few weeks left to the season, the heat has impacted production and the berries are smaller and not as strong.

In Santa Maria and Oxnard, summer-planted fruit has stronger production. However many shippers are picking on the lighter side because if they let the fruit ripen up as normal, the berries will be too soft.

Demand is believed to reflect the quality of berries available right now, though late September-October is generally not a time for strong demand for strawberries. Weather events in the southeast–namely Hurricanes Helene and Milton–have also impacted demand.

Meanwhile, in Florida, there are reports of plantings being impacted by Hurricane Milton. However, there is still time to replant given the region starts in late December.

In central Mexico, the strawberry harvest will start in a very light way next week.

All of this is leaving the market for strawberries weak at the moment.

South Africa: Strawberry season is coming to an end

The main strawberry season in South Africa is coming to an end. Once the weather gets too hot, the crop dwindles, and only the Southern and Western Cape crop continues into summer.

As happens every few years, there have been many new entrants, some of whom perceive it to be an 'easy' annual crop with an "insatiable" demand from the Middle East. However, as a long-time strawberry grower points out, strawberries are very labour-intensive and exports are only viable when quality is first class. When new entrants aren't able to export, the fruit is sent to the local market where they sink the market and prices, the grower says, were 20% to 30% lower than last year.

"With the volumes we were getting, there wasn't much we could do about it," says a strawberry market trader. At the lowest point, strawberry punnets of 250g were sold for R3 (0.15 euro) and R4, a price far below breakeven point for farmers.

At the moment, the price is between R10 (0.5 euro) to R12 a 250g punnet, he says, which is still not lucrative for farmers having to transport their strawberries from the Southern Cape to Gauteng, over a thousand kilometres. According to the Joburg Market, the average daily price is R47 (2.4 euros) per kilogram.

"There are too many strawberry producers and it's just affecting our market," the trader remarks. Online sales are high-risk as those strawberries are not inspected to pass minimum quality requirements.

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