The manager of Freshuelva, Rafael Domínguez, warned this Friday that the 2025/2026 strawberry and red berry campaign in Huelva is shaping up to be "the worst in the last three years" in terms of production "numbers". He specified that they still need to finalize the data with the associated companies, so the definitive balance will not be ready until July.
Domínguez made this assessment in response to media questions during the presentation of the eleventh edition of the International Red Berry Congress of Huelva, where he detailed that "the first quarter has been disastrous, because adverse weather conditions have resulted in a lot of damage to many farms."
Due to this situation, he recalled that "both the Junta de Andalucía and the Government" have implemented extraordinary aid to mitigate the effects of the storm train that hit the province between January and February of this year and which is already "reaching Freshuelva's companies and partners."
The head of the association stressed that the second half of the campaign has "considerably improved the campaign" in terms of harvested volume, although he qualified that "then an economic balance of all this will have to be made, because obviously the costs have not been covered in the first part," so it will be necessary to analyze in detail how this second phase has evolved "to see what the average has been."
In this analysis, he remarked that "it is true that there are products, such as raspberries, which have had a fairly regular line, without many ups and downs, and blueberries, which are still being harvested and have a longer campaign, may perfectly meet the expectations we had and reach last year's levels."
However, he admitted that he "doubts" that strawberries "will reach last year's production level" because "in the end, it is not compensated economically by the kilos," since, although higher prices were recorded in the first months, the low volume means that "obviously in the end the numbers will not add up." Furthermore, he stressed that "it will depend on the areas" because "there have been more damaged areas and other areas that have not had so much damage."
In this regard, he recalled that "there have been areas that in this case had a lot of flooding, those are the ones that have been most damaged and therefore lost part of their early production. Therefore, now we have to do the global balance of the campaign from January to June 30 practically".
For all these reasons, he reiterated that it is the campaign with "less production" in the last three years, since "the month of March is unrecoverable, which has been a month where we have lost competition from countries". Regarding external competition, he pointed out that Morocco's has been perceived "less" because "the storms entered there" and it also suffered damage, being the "first country" to withdraw from France "because production was not arriving in good condition due to methodological inclemencies".
Likewise, he indicated that "it is true that production has been noticed quite a bit, both in French and German ones, which came out late but when they came out they came out very strong and with offers. Other times they enter with higher prices in the market, but they entered late and entered with strong production and that is what has been noticed in April and at the end of April. Market competition, in this case, European, from the producing markets of the European Union, we all entered at the same time in April and that means that everyone has to enter with offers and we have to lower prices and that is what happened in the second part," he explained.
In the final stretch of his speech, he denounced the "unfair" competition from "certain countries due to the agreements they have with the European Union" and defended that it is necessary to be "on equal terms in the market, and compete on equal terms". "We are going to continue producing with a high standard of quality, with all sustainability and labor certifications and all those we have to have, but we ask that others also have them," he concluded.
The 11th International Red Fruits Congress
In parallel, this Friday the 11th International Red Fruits Congress was presented, organized by Freshuelva and which will take place on June 17 and 18 at the Casa Colón in Huelva. The event "will once again turn the province into an international meeting point for the berries sector" with a program focused on markets, innovation, sustainability, health, social responsibility, and the current challenges of producers and companies.
The presentation event took place at Casa Colón and was attended by the president of Freshuelva, Francisco José Gómez; the mayor of Huelva, Pilar Miranda; the president of the Provincial Council, David Toscano; the general manager of the Andalusian Agency for Agricultural and Fisheries Management (Agapa), José Carlos Álvarez; and the director of the Caja Rural del Sur Foundation, Emilio Ponce.
Gómez stated that "when we talk about berries, we also talk about the Huelva brand," emphasizing that the province has established itself as an "international benchmark thanks to the work of thousands of farmers, companies, and professionals." Similarly, he recalled that the sector faces this edition "after a tough and complicated campaign that has once again demonstrated the work capacity, professionalism, and effort of our farmers and our companies."
The president of Freshuelva added that the congress will be "an opportunity to analyze the challenges facing the sector, share experiences, and continue building its future together, with a high-level program and speakers of national and international relevance."
The event will offer a program that will address key issues for the present and future of berries. The inaugural conference will be given by the writer and leadership expert Luis Galindo, while the closing will be in the hands of the international branding specialist Andy Stalman.
Among the most notable sessions is the markets presentation by Mario Steta, president of the International Blueberry Organization (IBO) Council, titled "Blueberry as a growth engine for the berry sector globally, implications for Spain," as well as the presentation of the clinical trial promoted by Freshuelva and the University of Huelva on the benefits of strawberry consumption for women's health.
The program also includes round tables on social responsibility and local development focused on circular migration and entrepreneurship of women hired at origin, as well as a showcooking by chef Daniel del Toro to highlight the gastronomic potential of berries.
Along with this, the congress will feature an extensive calendar of technical talks by leading companies in the sector and a large exhibition area that will once again make Casa Colón a space for meeting, business, and knowledge exchange for the entire berry industry.