Germany’s Boycott Campaign May Impact Huelva Strawberry Sector

Huelva, June 1 (EFE).- Germany is currently the main importer of Huelva strawberries, concentrating annually around 30 percent of the purchases of this product, which is why boycott campaigns in that country, such as that of this week may have a significant impact on the sector.

According to the data provided this Thursday to EFE by the Association of Producers and Exporters of Strawberries and Red Fruits of Huelva (Freshuelva) and those collected at the Price Observatory of the Junta de Andalucía, the total production of this fruit in the last closed campaign, that of 2021-2022, reached 270,120 tons.

Strawberries continue to be the star product in Huelva’s red fruit production, which last year stood at just over 380,000 tons.

Of the total strawberry production, 80 percent, that is, around 216,000 tons, was destined for international markets, the main one, with 64,800 imported tons, being Germany.

Behind this country, with percentages that are around 15%, are the United Kingdom -despite Brexit-, and France.

With regard to turnover, if one takes into account that the volume of these exports has been around 500 million euros in recent campaigns, what the strawberry growers earn from their sales in Germany is estimated at around 150 million.

These data show the impact that the possibility of the campaign promoted by the Campact association, to which more than 140,000 Germans have joined, would have on the sector to demand that the country’s supermarket chains not sell strawberries from Spain for “not to contribute to the desiccation of the Doñana National Park”.

This association justifies the initiative in that “especially after the electoral success of the Popular Party in the regional and local elections last weekend, there is a danger that the theft of water will now become officially permitted”, in relation to the proposition of the irrigation management law of the Northern Crown of Doñana that is being processed in the Andalusian Parliament at the request of the PP and Vox. EFE

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