Greek Strawberry Cultivation Decrease Due to Labor Shortage

Greek strawberry producers have raised concerns regarding labor shortages and cost since the 2021 season, when they had to leave strawberries unharvested in the fields to rot and saw the cost of labor increasing more than 35%. For the 2022 season, farmers associations were looking to Vietnam to supply short term labor and were hoping to find a sustainable solution to labor scarcity before August. However, the end of August is near with no source of labor secured, resulting in another year of labor shortages.

Producers will be forced to decrease the cultivated area by at least 30%, condemning the multimillion expansion investments signed 2 years ago, and the predicted 15% expansion of the sector until 2025. Plant breeders and suppliers of plants corroborate the reduction in cultivated area as they are still waiting for orders for new plants from Greece. The 2022 season will be noted as the first year that the Greek strawberry sector will be shrinking after 30 years of continuous expansion. It is expected that volumes in the market will be lower this season accompanied by higher prices. Greek strawberry producers may also lose market share due to competition from Egypt.