Since its founding in 1983, Freshuelva has become the industry association of Huelva’s strawberry producers and distributors. Its member companies account for around 95% of production in the sector. Since its founding, its statutory purposes have been the defence and promotion of the sector in Huelva; to fulfil these, Freshuelva performs functions and undertakes very diverse tasks, always with the ultimate goal of promoting the image of the product and improving the technology and structure of the sector, and, in doing so, improving growers’ profitability.

Thus Freshuelva plays a prominent role in representing the sector before public administrations, equivalent producer sectors in other countries, the media, and social and economic agents. To meet the challenges of technology in the sector, it has entered into collaborative research agreements with diverse public and private scientific institutions, directly finances research projects, and organises an annual award for technological innovation. In addition, it is licensed by the regional government of Andalusia to authorise and manage the use of the official “Producción Integrada de Fresas de Andalucía” [Integrated Andalusian Strawberry Production] logo.

The production zone where the main companies in the sector are located is characterised by being an area influenced by proximity to the Atlantic Ocean. This gives the province of Huelva certain exceptional climatic characteristics that allow it to, year after year, produce the first European strawberries to appear in markets still experiencing winter.

Not only that, it should also be noted that in recent years, the companies in the sector have diversified their production to include other berries, specifically the raspberry, already well-consolidated in the province, and others, like the blackberry and the blueberry, which are gradually coming into their own and achieving unquestionable importance in the zone.