Blackberry is a limited crop in Spain by the moment, having a small market share. Nevertheless, companies like Agrícola El Bosque have made a strong commitment to developing this exclusive product and have become a reference in Huelva for both the quality of their product and their customer service.

The company Agrícola El Bosque is specialised in production and manufacturing of blackberry since longer than 15 years ago. Having 20 hectares, 4 of them devoted to plant production, they yield 250 tonnes per year. Their special feature is that they produce almost all year round (from October to June), whereas production in the province of Huelva lasts usually from late April to June. ‘Besides, other European producers harvest in summer, which is beneficial to us since we offer our product when no one else does. Mexico is the main competitor country during these dates since they handle large volumes. However, their strength and penetration into the European market also enabled to make blackberry more known amongst consumers hence favouring global consumption’, stated Javier Velo, manager of the company.

But it is the specialisation of Agrícola El Bosque in this exclusive product, blackberry, which enabled them to achieve success in European markets, always guaranteeing top quality in their organoleptic properties as well as an adequate customer service. ‘In general, blackberry producers consider this product a secondary one so that they don’t pay it the same attention as we do, being producer of only this product’, stated the manager.
Thus, blackberry campaign of this company can be split into two periods: spring, when they coincide in time with other productions of the province, and autumn-winter. The course of the last trade campaign was a complicated one due to the economic crisis, which severely affected consumption, turning it towards cheaper Mexican products hence damaging prices of blackberry. On the other hand, there was a production surplus in Huelva which, in addition to that recorded in Portugal, resulted in accumulation of supply and fall in prices. ‘The final result of the last campaign was only enough to cover production costs; I consider that it is complicated to make profit from only a spring crop’, stated Velo.

Thus, as a consequence of what happened in the last campaign, Huelva growers have uprooted plants in many farms and area devoted to blackberry production has decreased 17%, from 80 to 60 hectares so that no production surplus is expected in the first stages of the campaign. The situation now, in early February, is one good price levels due to weather problems recorded in Mexico. Moreover, profitability is expected to increase and over the last year and the campaign course is expected to have a smoother development.