Moroccan strawberry exports fell sharply this past season to their lowest level ever, hit by fierce Egyptian competition, drought, depletion of the water table and labor shortages.
According to the agricultural news site EastFruit, Morocco’s fresh strawberry exports continued their downward trend for a fourth consecutive season in 2025/2026. Between October 2025 and April 2026, Morocco exported just 8,700 tonnes — half the volume recorded the previous season — worth around 45 million dollars, the lowest level on record.
The decline comes after Morocco’s red-fruit exports peaked in the 2021/2022 season, when shipments exceeded 23,000 tonnes and generated revenues of more than 100 million dollars.
The source revealed that strawberries in Morocco are passing through an acute structural and climatic crisis. But the turning point, it said, was Morocco losing the price war with Egypt: Egyptian farmers rapidly expanded their planting areas and flooded the market with cheaper fruit, making competition harder for Moroccan producers. As profit margins collapsed, farmers began converting their land to more profitable crops.
Alongside the Egyptian competition, the report highlighted how water scarcity has compounded the pressure on the crop. Strawberries depend heavily on water, but the depletion of the water table, successive years of drought and the salinization of coastal areas have forced farmers trying to save their harvests to invest enormous sums in desalination systems, further eroding profitability.
The site also noted that labor shortages have added to the challenges, as seasonal workers leave for Spain, where wages are far higher, and those who stay prefer working on raspberry and blueberry farms rather than in strawberry fields. The sector has struggled to secure enough workers during the harvest seasons.
The season was also exposed to sharp weather swings; cold and humid spells and temperature fluctuations delayed the ripening of crops, and in early 2026 destructive floods swept the Gharb and Loukkos regions, submerging low-lying fields, destroying protective tunnels and ruining large portions of the harvest. These combined pressures drove exports down across all the main markets.
According to the report, France saw the largest drop, with shipments falling by more than 80%, while the Netherlands experienced a milder contraction. Exports to the United Kingdom and Spain — the two largest importers of Moroccan strawberries — fell by 44% and 54% respectively. Saudi Arabia was the only market to record growth, though export volumes there remain too small to affect the overall trend.
The report revealed that major investors and cooperatives are redirecting their capital from fresh strawberries to blueberries, blackberries and avocados. Even so, the strawberry sector retains its importance, particularly in the field of quick-freezing, where Morocco set a record in 2025 for its exports to the United States.
