Strawberry season peaks, citrus enters late-season phase

Fresh Market Digest – Week 16, 2026

Across European wholesale markets, strawberry prices are diverging as peak Spanish volumes continue to pressure the southern tier, while northern-origin fruit maintains a strong premium. At the same time, citrus markets are entering their late season, with varietal transitions accelerating and availability tightening across key origins.

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Spain's Mercamadrid

The Spanish strawberry campaign's price arc is very clear.

From an opening of €8.00/kg in week 1, the Mercamadrid weekly average has fallen to €2.85/kg in week 16, a 64% decline. The brief recovery to €4.50/kg in week 12 proved temporary, and the market returned to its downward trajectory from week 13 onwards. Huelva production, which accounts for the majority of Spanish strawberry production, is at peak volume.

Mercamadrid's citrus picture in weeks 15 and 16 is one of orderly transition.

The Orri mandarin holds firm at €2.30/kg, the highest-priced citrus item on the market, reflecting tightening Spanish supply. The Primofiori lemon sits at €1.58–1.60/kg, essentially flat, but availability will likely narrow sharply in the coming weeks. Salustiana orange remains the volume commodity at €0.65–0.66/kg. Lane Late, now the primary navel transitional variety, trades at €1.37–1.40/kg. Red and yellow grapefruit, Navel Powel, and Sanguina (Sanguinelli) are all unchanged at €1.40–1.70/kg.

Greece’s Central Market of Athens (OKAA)

The OKAA Athens bulletin for weeks 15 and 16 shows a stable market, with prices unchanged across all categories except strawberries, which recorded a significant week-on-week drop as domestic Greek production hits peak volume.

Avocado holds at €3.00/kg, kiwi at €2.00/kg, crystal pears at €1.70/kg, lemons at €1.10/kg, and the three apple varieties (Granny Smith, Starking Delicious, Fuji) at €1.30/kg. Bananas remain at €0.95/kg and Lane Late oranges at €0.75/kg.

Strawberries moved from €2.00/kg last week to €1.50/kg this week, a 25% decline. Greek domestic production, concentrated in the Peloponnese and Central Macedonia, is at or near peak volume, the same supply-pressure dynamic visible at Mercamadrid and in the German market.

France’s Rungis International Market

The Rungis market reveals changing strawberry dynamics, total stability in pip fruit, and a sharp repricing in citrus.

There is a clear premium divergence between northern and southern European strawberries. French strawberries rose from €9.70/kg to €10.00/kg (+3.1%), driven by improving domestic quality. The market bulletin confirms that favourable weather is driving strong domestic supply, but moderate demand is tempering any significant price escalation.

Belgian strawberries increased as well, up from €9.00/kg to €9.55/kg (+6.1%). Spanish strawberries moved in the opposite direction: €4.00/kg to €3.78/kg (−5.5%).

Across the pip fruit category, Conference pear, Gala, Golden, Granny Smith, and Reinette du Canada, all of French origin, held their price. This reflects the late-storage phase of the domestic French apple campaign and steady, predictable demand.

In the citrus category, Spanish lemon held flat at €1.80/kg, though the bulletin notes quality divergence, with Primofiori giving way to Verna.

Germany's Federal Office for Agriculture & Food (BLE)

The BLE Marktbericht draws on data from Frankfurt, Hamburg, Munich and Berlin, providing broad geographic coverage. The multi-origin strawberry category highlights six key producers. 

Greece, which entered week 2 at €7.46/kg and peaked in week 7 at €7.69/kg, has been in sustained decline and reached €3.79/kg by week 15. Italian strawberries, more resilient, stood at €5.68/kg in week 15. Spain's arc mirrors Mercamadrid: collapse from a week 6 high of €7.08/kg to €2.94/kg in week 15.

With the arrival of northern European supply, the Netherlands started at €8.10/kg in week 12 and was at €7.87/kg in Week 15. Germany opened at €8.45/kg at its week 14 entry — the highest entry price for any strawberry origin on any market covered in this report, and decreased slightly to €8.17/kg in Week 15. Belgium only entered in Week 15 at €8.41, the highest strawberry price last week.

The €5–6/kg gap between German/Dutch and Spanish/Greek strawberry origins reflects a durable premium for domestic short-season supply.

German citrus markets show a varietal transition.

The Italian Moro blood orange fell from €2.31/kg to €2.10/kg (−9.1%) as the Sicilian campaign narrows to its final batches and should be over soon. In contrast, the Spanish lemon rose from €1.86/kg to €2.00/kg (+7.5%) as Verna replaces Primofiori. Spanish mandarin fell from €2.26/kg to €2.11/kg as available volumes thin. Cara-Cara and Salustiana held flat at €1.60/kg and €1.13/kg respectively.

Market outlook

In the coming weeks, German and Dutch domestic strawberry production will ramp up, adding premium supply to a market already split between abundant, cheap Spanish volumes and scarce, expensive northern fruit. Greek and Spanish strawberry prices are likely to fall further as peak-season supply intensifies. The premium tier — Belgian, French, German, and Dutch fruit — should hold or strengthen as the spring-to-summer season demand sustains buyer interest in quality-origin supply.

The pip fruit category should see a gradual shift away from domestic late-season apple varieties toward non-EU imports.

For citrus, the transition will deepen. Spanish mandarin availability will continue to narrow, and Lane Late orange pricing should remain stable. Lemon buyers navigating the Primofiori-to-Verna switch will likely see higher costs.

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