Strawberries: late start but spread optimism

In Spain (first EU producer and second worldwide only to the USA) after some years of distress within the industry - due to overproduction that often made the market collapse and the weather causing unexpected and unmanageable drops of quality - now the sector is healthy and well-organized. Decreased production surfaces has allowed matching supply and demand; furthermore, the recent employ commonly of more than one variety gives a longer and stable quality crop. If only two years ago Camarosa (created by the University of California) accounted for 95% of all strawberry cultivations in Spain, today different varieties are consolidated: Candonga in first place (created in Spain), but also Ventana, Splendor, Festival, Honor.
According to the association Freshuelva, Spain will produce this year 250,000 tonnes (approximately confirming the same levels of the last campaign), 90% of which comes from the province of Huelva, in Andalusia. Domestic consumption account for only 10%. The creation of big commercial structures - such as Onubafruit and Cooprabida-Fresón de Palos - is considered in Spain the best strategy to get a high positioning on international markets.
Italy (third European producers) expects a more regular season than that of last year, when the anticipated ripening caused the peak of production in April already. However, Italy’s foreign sales of strawberries are declining (from 23,000 tonnes in 2006 to 18,000 last year), despite increased investments in surfaces. This due apparently to the reduction of sales to one of the main Italian export destination: Germany, whose production grew in 2007 by over 29%, passing from a crop of 119,000 tonnes in 2004 to 154,000 in 2007.
For this reason many Italian companies are considering the export potential of new markets in Eastern Europe.