The strawberry picking season is coming to an end.

Everything indicates that this year's season of strawberry procurement for processing is already coming to an end. Due to such, and no other weather conditions, it started much earlier and also, due to the weather (sometimes rainy, sometimes sunny and hot), it will end earlier as well.

In fact, the end of the industrial strawberry procurement season is already clearly visible. There are very few players left in the game of the remaining harvest. Most processing plants quickly wrapped up the strawberry campaign and shifted their focus to other fruits. But there are still a few interested parties left in this game.

And how are the prices for strawberry procurement for processing looking? The peak demand and price peak were around mid-June. More precisely, at the beginning of the second half of this month. At that time, stemless strawberry prices reached the range of 4.50-5.50 PLN/kg, while strawberries with stems were priced at 2.80-3.50 PLN/kg.

Then, as the interest from buyers decreased (due to the mentioned shift of processors to other fruits), strawberry procurement prices began to decline. Now, stemless strawberry prices range from 4.20-5.00 PLN/kg, and those with stems are priced at 2.70-3.00 PLN/kg. This represents a decrease in the final part of the campaign by 14 and 22 percent, respectively.

The prices of stemless strawberries have maintained an average level higher than last year (year-on-year +10 percent), while the prices of strawberries with stems have fallen below the level from the same period last year (-22 percent). However, it is important to remember that the current season started much earlier and was significantly shifted compared to the typical strawberry campaign calendar. Last year, after June 26, strawberry procurement prices also dropped significantly. Already by June 28, 2023, the average price for strawberries with stems was lower than the current one.