Gonçalo Santos Andrade discusses the growth of the country’s fresh produce sector and the role Portugal Fresh plays in its success
How is Portugal’s fresh produce sector shaping up right now?
Gonçalo Santos Andrade: Last year was a record year, with exports reaching close to €2.6bn in 2025. This year has been more demanding. A sequence of storms hit Portugal early in the year, destroying crops, damaging greenhouses and irrigation systems, and that showed up in the first-half figures, with exports down 3.5 per cent in value and 5.9 per cent in volume.
We see this as a conjunctural setback caused by extreme weather, not a loss of structural competitiveness, and we expect a strong second half if there are no further shocks.
The strongest growth areas remain berries – raspberries in particular – alongside citrus, tomatoes, almonds and pears. The main challenges are structural; water, since only around 15 per cent of Portugal’s 3.7mn hectares of farmland has access to irrigation, and a shortage of labour.
Berries are perhaps the clearest example of what focused investment can achieve. According to a 2025 EY study, Portuguese berry production has tripled in a decade to more than 91,400 tonnes, generating an economic impact of €1.037bn and exports of €398mn from just 5,000ha.
What is driving the success of these categories?
GSA: What drives this success is a combination of factors: real diversification of Portugal’s offer an Atlantic climate influence alongside sustained investment in quality and food safety, joint international promotion through Portugal Fresh, and the logistical advantage of being close to the EU’s main consumer markets.
What are you experiencing in terms of changing consumer demand and market trends?
GSA: International buyers and consumers are asking for more than volume and price; they want taste, quality, traceability and a credible sustainability story.
Portuguese companies have adapted significantly on this front over the past decade, investing in professional communication, dedicated client-facing teams, and increasingly consistent messaging around their sustainability and workforce commitments, something that would have been unthinkable ten years ago.
We are also seeing our companies extend production calendars and broaden their category range.
What role does Portugal Fresh play in supporting its members?
GSA: Portugal Fresh is the bridge between Portuguese operators and international markets. Our role is representing the sector before national and European institutions and defending the interests of producers and exporters. We also aim to build the value of the ‘Portugal’ origin and the quality of our production.
Today Portugal Fresh has 112 member companies and associations, representing around 5,000 Portuguese growers.
The association is now marking 16 years of activity, a period in which the value of Portuguese fruit, vegetable and flower exports has tripled, which says a great deal about the impact of this collective work.
Looking ahead, what are the main priorities for Portugal Fresh in the coming months and years?
GSA: Three priorities are, in our view, non-negotiable: water security; a faster and more effective public response to extreme weather events, which are becoming more frequent; and competitive conditions equivalent to those enjoyed by our main European rivals, especially Spain.
On our side, in 16 years we have tripled the value of our fruit, vegetable and flower exports, and the agri-food sector now represents 13 per cent of Portugal’s goods exports.
What message will you be conveying at Fruit Attraction in Madrid?
GSA: This year the Portugal Fresh stand covers 838m², up from around 700m² in 2025, and brings together 50 companies, producer associations and partners – more than 30 exporting growers and packers from all over the country, nine institutional and service partners, and nine producer associations.
Behind those numbers sits a longer story worth telling. The sector now accounts for around 13 per cent of the country’s total goods exports. That is the story we want visitors to take away – a small country that has built a genuinely international, fast-growing fresh produce industry.
