Despite a drop in production, the value of berry exports remained roughly stable.

According to Freshuelva, the association of strawberry producers and distributors in Huelva, the health crisis with its numerous restrictions

has caused strawberry production to drop by 20% compared to the previous year. The total volume was around 250,000 tonnes of strawberries.

The raspberry and blueberry campaigns were less affected by the restrictions due to the pandemic. Their marketing, which is strongly focused

on large-scale distribution, has progressed relatively normally. The closure of markets and the Horeca chain (Hotel Restaurant Catering) reduced national consumption.

Regarding exports, a decrease of 3.3% was recorded compared to the previous season. Raspberry exports fell 21% mainly due to lower production in the 1st quarter of the year;

blueberry exports fell by 2.1% and blackberry exports by 43.7% due to the decrease in acreage.

Despite the difficulties encountered during these campaigns, the turnover is down by only 0.6% compared to the previous season.

Thanks in particular to the increase in turnover of blueberries, which rose by 14.3%, while that of strawberries fell by 3.7% and that of raspberries by 6.63%.

Germany is the main consumer of Huelva berries, being the destination of 36% of exported strawberries, 35.3% of raspberries and 39.4% of blueberries.

France was the destination of 13.6% of strawberries and 9.6% of raspberries. The UK was the destination for 13.6% of strawberries, 28.7% of raspberries and 20.5% of blueberries exported.