The French Ministry of Agriculture’s statistics service, Agreste, has published a note on the strawberry situation. “According to the first estimates as of May 1st, 2021, the surface area of strawberry crops for the 2021 campaign is 3,400 ha, which is 1% less than last year but 1% more than the 2016-2020 average. The annual national production (56,000 tons) is 4% lower than last year and 3% lower than the 5-year average. The strawberry plants showed a globally satisfactory development until March, except for the Paca region penalized by insufficient light. The frost episode in early April has caused delays in some areas and losses in production potential, although difficult to estimate. The demand has been good since the beginning of the campaign. With an offer that is still limited, strawberry prices in March 2021 were higher than in 2020 and the 5-year average. In April, prices remained firm, higher by 10% than in 2020 and 20% compared to the average of the past 5 years.” Harvest impacted by the April frost “According to the first estimates as of May 1st, 2021, the 2021 national strawberry surfaces are 3,380 ha, which is 1% less than last year but 1% more than the 5-year average. The 2021 strawberry production has reached 55,868 tons, which is 4% less than in 2019 and 3% less than the 2016-2020 average. The severe frost episodes from early April have impacted several sectors significantly, resulting in lower yields and slower productions. The losses, difficult to predict at this stage, are estimated at about 10 to 50% in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and 5 to 30% in the Centre-Loire-Valley. The extent of the damage varies greatly depending on the area, variety, progress of the crops and orientation of tunnel installations.” Marketing: good start of the 2021 campaign “Contrary to the difficult start of the 2020 campaign due to the lockdown, the marketing of the first strawberries is taking place in better conditions this year. The demand has been good from the start and the market is promising overall. From March already, prices were higher than in 2020 and the 5-year average. With an offer that is still limited and a decrease in imports, prices remained firm in April (10% more than last year and 20% more than the 2016-2020 average) despite the lower temperatures at the beginning of the month, not so favorable for the consumption of this spring product.” From January to March 2021, imports (16,900 tons) decreased by 6% and exports (4,000 tons) by 5%, compared to last year. The trade deficit (-12,900 tons) is down by 7% cumulatively from January to March, compared to 2020. Source - https://www.freshplaza.com