Huge oversupply: Swiss strawberry farmers see red

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Switzerland’s favorite fruit is in high season. And how! They are large, sweet and bright red on the shelves of retailers and farm shops. A total of 1,400 tons of strawberries were harvested in Swiss fields just last week. The makers agree: That’s more than it’s been in years.

It’s just silly: almost all of the berries ripened at the same time. “Bad weather in the spring meant that the planned cascade of planting was not working as intended. That’s why everyone is suddenly ripe now,” explains Christian Sohm (40). He is the director of Swiss Cofel, the Swiss fruit, vegetable and potato trade association. Meaning: Early varieties ripen later than usual. And thanks to the nice weather in recent days, late varieties are earlier than usual. .

Strawberries are rotting in the field

Therefore, far from the sun everywhere, despite the record harvest. “Some of the strawberries may have rotted in the field,” Sohm tells Blick. Every effort will be made to sell the entire harvest. “But at some point the demand will run out and it will be feared that not all strawberries will be harvested.”

Strawberry farmers fear that they will not be able to survive the entire harvest and will have to accept financial losses as a result. Sohm is calming down: everything is tried with campaigns and offers to market the quantity.

Only half selected

In fact: On the Volg, 500 grams of Thurgau strawberries are available at a 24 percent discount for CHF 5.20 instead of CHF 6.90. Coop offers the Chörbli for 4.95 francs – 22 percent cheaper. And this is in the middle of the high season. Migros relies on regional campaigns.

Producers expect a harvest of over 7,000 tons of strawberries this year. Half of it has already been collected, the rest is still growing in the fields. Despite the excess supply, no more fruit is exported. “The weather was similar in the neighboring countries, so the crowd there was pretty high,” Sohm says.

Source :Blick