GLOBAL MARKET OVERVIEW STRAWBERRIES
Europe’s strawberry season continues to be shaped by contrasting weather conditions, with prolonged heat affecting production, fruit quality, and market dynamics in several key growing regions. While some markets are benefiting from improved demand as local supplies tighten, others are facing pressure from lower consumption, quality challenges, or increased volumes.
Across the Northern Hemisphere, growers are balancing weather-related production issues with shifting market conditions. Prices remain mixed between regions, demand varies by market, and investment in protected cultivation and new production systems continues to influence supply as the season progresses.
Italy: Demand below expectations
The unusually high temperatures recorded in recent weeks have taken a toll on summer strawberry production. A leading grower of soilless strawberries in the mountains, at an altitude of around 1,000 metres, reports that temperatures of up to 34°C in June caused significant heat stress to the plants. Securing adequate irrigation water has also become increasingly challenging. Although the strawberry market remains active, demand has fallen short of expectations. The grower sells the fruit in 2 kg trays at an average price of around €22 per tray. One of the key selling points of these mountain-grown strawberries is their longer shelf life compared to fruit produced in lowland areas. However, rising production costs have become a major concern in recent months. Overall costs have increased by around 10%, primarily due to higher transport, packaging, and agricultural input expenses. Mountain cultivation produces strawberries with firm, crisp flesh and relies on disease prevention strategies and beneficial insects for crop protection. The decision to adopt soilless cultivation was largely motivated by sustainability goals and the desire to reduce resource waste.
According to the latest data from Ismea, the average producer price for strawberries remained stable at €5.58 per kilogram during the second week of July, unchanged from the previous week but 1.4% higher than during the same period last year. Prices vary across wholesale fruit and vegetable markets in northern Italy depending on origin, size, and commercial grade. At the Verona market, for instance, strawberries from the Veneto and Trentino regions are primarily sold in punnets, with prices ranging from €3 for Class II fruit to €7.50 for Class I and Extra produce. In Bolzano, the prevailing price for 30 to 40 mm strawberries in punnets was €8.05, while in Cesena, Class I strawberries from Trentino were trading at around €6.
Strawberries continue to strengthen their position as one of the most widely purchased fresh fruits in Italy. According to YouGov data, the category reached more than 73% of Italian households in May 2026, up from 72% in 2025 and 69% in 2024. Alongside the increase in the number of households purchasing strawberries, the frequency of purchases also rose, reaching an average of 7.6 occasions per year. However, average spending per purchase remained unchanged at €3.26, while the quantity purchased per shopping trip declined slightly from 0.631 kg to 0.622 kg. Supermarkets continue to dominate strawberry sales, maintaining their position as the leading retail channel, with household penetration approaching 49%.
Netherlands: Strawberry market recovers after heatwave-driven supply surge
The Dutch strawberry sector was taken by surprise this week by the announcement that Royal Berry has acquired Dutch Berries. The acquisition expands Royal Berry’s production area to 110 hectares, including 47 hectares equipped with LED lighting.
Strawberry prices remained at healthy levels until a few weeks ago, but the spell of exceptionally hot weather accelerated ripening, resulting in a glut of strawberries on the market. Combined with strong competition from other summer fruit, this pushed prices down to as low as €2.00/kg. Over the past two weeks, however, the market has recovered, with prices returning to a more sustainable level of around €6.50/kg.
Current supplies are coming from growers continuing greenhouse production with everbearing varieties. In addition, Dutch growers have invested heavily in tabletop cultivation of everbearing strawberries, while several producers are also harvesting an intermediate greenhouse crop.
Traders report that some markets, particularly the UK, are currently well supplied with strawberries. In contrast, demand is picking up strongly in Southern Europe, as well as in Switzerland and Germany, partly because the recent heat has significantly reduced the availability and quality of locally grown open-field strawberries.
France: Heat affects quality and returns
Spring production reached historically high levels, particularly for Gariguette. Despite the exceptional volumes and overlapping harvests from different growing regions, the market was able to absorb the supply thanks to intensive communication campaigns and commercial efforts that stimulated consumption.
The situation has changed significantly in recent weeks, however. Prolonged heatwaves across the country have placed strawberry plants under severe stress, leading to quality issues and increased sorting in both the field and at packing stations. As a result, a significant share of the crop has been diverted to the processing industry, where returns remain well below production costs, weighing heavily on growers’ profitability.
Fresh market prices have remained relatively stable as volumes declined after some growers ended production earlier than expected. However, the overall economic situation remains difficult once fruit destined for processing is taken into account.
Consumption has also slowed due to competition from other summer fruits, holiday-related shifts in consumer demand, and quality concerns. Production volumes for the second half of the season are now expected to fall below initial forecasts.
Germany: Demand slows after seasonal peak
The seasonal peak has passed. Although supplies increased again, there were clear signs of customer saturation. The quality of the domestic crop was also inconsistent, resulting in a wide price range across some markets. In Berlin, supplies of Class II fruit increased and were already being sold for €0.80 per 500 g punnet. Belgian, Dutch, and Polish strawberries complemented an otherwise uneventful market.
Switzerland: Early harvest, mixed weather
This year’s berry harvest began significantly earlier than in previous years. “However, the weather over the last few weeks has been neither kind to the berries nor to people,” notes a grower from the canton of Lucerne. While the bushberry harvest is still in full swing, the open-field strawberry harvest has already finished in many areas.
Austria: Strong season despite weather
Despite challenging weather conditions, growers in the main production region of Lower Austria achieved above-average yields this year, according to reports at the end of the outdoor season. The conclusion is clear: Lower Austrian strawberries and asparagus were once again in high demand in 2026, earning high marks for quality, regional origin, and food safety.
Spain: Storms reduce production and exports
The strawberry season has recently come to an end in Huelva, which accounts for 95 to 98 per cent of Spain’s total strawberry production. The campaign was marked by a succession of storms during the early months of the year, which affected both production and exports. The lower volume of available fruit had a direct impact on international sales.
Strawberry production totalled 204,035 tons, a 3 per cent decline compared with the previous season. Persistent rainfall during critical stages of crop development particularly affected marketed volumes and limited product availability for much of the campaign.
On the commercial side, the value of exports also declined as a direct result of the lower volumes shipped during the months most affected by the storms. Strawberry exports reached €675.7 million, down 3.3 per cent compared with the same period of the previous year. Germany remained the leading market for Huelva’s strawberries, followed by the United Kingdom and France.
Although the season in Huelva has ended, harvesting continues in other production areas, including Segovia, where volumes are much smaller, and the crop is marketed mainly within Spain.
North America: Quality remains under pressure
Strawberry supplies across North America remain fairly steady, although conditions in California, a key growing region, continue to be warmer than usual. California has experienced exceptional weather for most of 2026 so far, while rainfall at the end of May left approximately half an inch of water in the Salinas-Watsonville area. That rainfall affected the crop and resulted in some losses last month.
Strawberry quality is currently acceptable, although the heat and long sunny days have led to increased wet bruising. Berry texture typically improves as the days become shorter, although that is still some way off.
Prices are currently averaging between €10.00 and €12.00, with demand remaining steady. Processing prices are also very attractive, prompting some shippers in Santa Maria to divert part of their crop to the processing market. Overall, the market remains fairly flat.
Morocco: Exports and acreage decline
Morocco’s strawberry sector continues to contract, with the latest export figures reflecting the downturn. Fresh strawberry exports fell to 8,906 tons in 2025/26, down 49 per cent from 17,539 tons the previous season. Processed strawberry exports also declined by 16 per cent, from 38,037 tons to 31,920 tons.
“I am very pessimistic about the future of the strawberry sector in Morocco,” an industry representative said in an earlier statement. Strawberry acreage has fallen from 3,700 hectares in 2022 to 2,300 hectares in 2025, putting the government’s target of 4,000 hectares by 2030 increasingly out of reach.
The main challenge is competition from Egypt. “Moroccan strawberries are 10 to 15% more expensive than Egyptian strawberries,” the representative said, citing Egypt’s lower production costs and export strategy supported by its currency. Morocco’s limited fresh export window, which ends on March 31 before EU customs duties take effect, has also shifted more volumes towards frozen products.
Production and logistics challenges have further affected the sector this season. According to the representative, the main issues have been an acute labour shortage and disruptions to Gulf markets during the conflict in the Middle East, which prevented many Moroccan exporters from supplying the region.
Egypt: Growers reduce planted area
Egyptian strawberry growers are approaching the new season cautiously following a difficult previous campaign. According to growers, last season combined several challenges, including poor seedling quality, yield losses, oversupply, rising production costs, weak international prices, and adverse weather. Across the country, lower yields have been accompanied by further cost increases.
The difficult season followed a year of record exports. Egypt remains the world’s largest exporter of frozen strawberries by volume, with exports generating approximately €580 million in 2025, compared with about €320 million in 2024. The country also exported 39,000 tons of fresh strawberries in 2026.
Quality concerns linked to the rapid expansion of production last season also prompted the EU to add Egyptian strawberries to its enhanced pesticide residue control list from February 18, 2026, adding further requirements for exporters.
According to industry sources, the challenges of last season are expected to drive many new entrants out of the sector and lead to a substantial reduction in planted area. One grower said that preparations for the coming season are already underway and that, by mid-July, the decline in acreage was already becoming apparent.
Value-added processing is also receiving increasing attention. Last season saw the establishment of drying plants in Egypt, whereas strawberries had previously been shipped to China for drying. More drying facilities are expected to come into operation next season.
