The Association of Producers and Exporters of Strawberries from Huelva, Freshuelva, has presented the balance of the 2025/2026 campaign, clearly conditioned by the succession of storms in the first months of the year, which has impacted both production and the evolution of exports.
According to the entity's press release, foreign trade figures cover the period accumulated until May, a stage in which the lower supply of available fruit was directly transferred to the volume marketed in international markets.
In the case of strawberries, the province's star crop, production stood at 204,035 tons, a 3% drop compared to the previous campaign. Persistent rains during key phases of crop development significantly influenced the final quantity sold, limiting the presence of product for a good part of the period.
On the other hand, raspberries closed the campaign with a 5% increase, reaching 39,545 tons, while blackberries were the red fruit with the largest percentage increase, with 2,517 tons produced, 33% more than in the previous year. Blueberries concluded with 59,500 tons, a 6% decrease compared to the previous campaign, also affected by adverse weather conditions that lasted for months.
On the commercial front, export data accumulated until May show a generalized drop in the value of foreign sales, a direct consequence of the lower volume of fruit that could be sent to the main destinations during the months most affected by the storms.
Strawberry exports reached a value of 675.7 million euros, 3.3% less than in the same period of the previous year. Raspberries registered sales of 222.7 million euros, with a slight decrease of 3%, while blueberries amounted to 336.2 million euros, 4% less. The "positive" note once again corresponded to blackberries, whose exports grew by 12%, reaching 20.6 million euros.
Regarding destinations, Germany remains the main market for strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries produced in Huelva. For strawberries, the top three are completed by the United Kingdom and France; for raspberries, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands; and for blueberries, the Netherlands and France. In the case of blackberries, the main destination continues to be the Netherlands, followed by Germany and France.
Freshuelva underlines that the campaign once again evidences "the capacity for adaptation" of a sector that has known how to react to especially complicated meteorological circumstances, maintaining its commitment to "compliance with the highest standards of quality and food safety, varietal innovation, and supply to international markets despite the difficulties recorded during a large part of the year."
The association also reiterates the importance of continuing to advance in strategic issues that mark the sector's competitiveness, such as the guarantee of water resources and hydraulic infrastructures, labor stability, soil disinfection, and the defense of fair competitive conditions against imports from third countries.
In this regard, Freshuelva insists on demanding the development of reciprocity mechanisms, such as mirror clauses, which ensure that imported products comply with the same social, labor, phytosanitary, and environmental requirements demanded of European producers.