As blueberry imports into the United States ramp up, prices for the berries have been lower than in past years. As the season progresses and the market is cleared of domestic production, prices for imported berries could increase.“We're expecting our Argentina blueberry deal to be up at least 50 percent over last year,” said Martin Maldonado, category manager for Southern Specialties. He also expects other importers to have large blueberry deals this year, and he estimated that imported volume this year could increase by as much as 25 percent over last year. But for the time being, volumes have been low, both because the season has just started and because there's a market that's still full of domestic berries.
“Volumes look to be strong out of Argentina due, in large part, to ideal growing conditions,” said Scott Husley, vice president of procurement for Gourmet Trading. “Prices have started significantly lower than anticipated. This is because of large domestic volumes still being present in the market.” Prices for a flat of berries were as low as $20.00 and got as high as $30.00 at the end of last week. But as the season progresses, prices are expected to climb.
“Demand has been slow,” noted Husley. “However, it does look like things will be increasing at the start of next week.”