The strawberry fields are disappearing, but a major turnaround is coming

Vanishing strawberry fields, hard numbers In Germany, in 2021, strawberries were cultivated on 17,807 hectares, but by 2025, this had shrunk to 12,721 hectares. This is a nearly 23% decline, which is not just a simple fluctuation but a well-visible structural transformation. The decline mainly affects open-field cultivation: here the area decreased from 16,568 hectares to 10,640 hectares. This trend may be familiar to producers in Hungary. Open-field berry crops are increasingly sensitive to labor shortages, weather extremes, disease pressure, and rising costs. In such an environment, the traditional model is becoming increasingly difficult to maintain. Under the foil, the math is quite different The response of German producers is increasingly the technology under cover. The area of foil and tunnel cultivation grew from 1,239 hectares in 2021 to 2,081 hectares in 2025, a new record. Not by chance: this system can produce more than twice the yield per hectare compared to ...