The chairman of the Irish Soft Fruit Growers’ Association has said supplies of berries to the UK and Irish markets may be severely restricted by the end of August.
Jimmy Kearns, who supplies strawberries to the UK market through the Keelings Group, as well as to supermarkets in Ireland, has blamed the unpredictable weather for wreaking havoc with this year’s crop of summer fruits.
“In 40 years in the fruit business I have never seen a summer like it,” Kearns said. “Much of the fruit we harvested was misshapen and the price has fallen to below cost.
“I’ve spoken to Irish cherry growers whose cherries have split, while gooseberry and raspberry growers have significant quantities of fruit which cannot be boxed for sale. Class 1 fruit is down around 60 per cent, which will have a knock-on effect on our exports to the UK,” he said.
Kearns claimed Ireland’s fruit farms are facing significant financial losses because the volume of fruit being produced has plummeted by up to a third. Soaring temperatures in March and frosty nights in May as well as wet days and humid nights in the summer have been the cause of the problems.
Kearns also pointed to an oversupply of imported Dutch fruit, which he believes has further depressed prices. “Many Dutch tomato growers switched out of tomato production and into soft fruit and they have been selling into the Irish markets at prices we can’t afford to compete with.
“Because of the lack of quality fruit, there will be a scarcity of Irish soft fruit in the next four to five weeks, both for the Irish market and for export to the UK,” Kearns predicted.
Meanwhile Irish Farmers’ Association president John Bryan has called on agriculture minister Simon Coveney to secure a 70 per cent advance on the Single Farm Payment from 16 October in response to deteriorating weather and difficulties with farm income.
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