Despite storms last week that hampered picking, this season's Florida blueberry crop could exceed last season's crop in volume. With plentiful supplies, prices have been down.“I think volume has been pretty good, and I expect a bigger crop than last year,” said Teddy Koukoulis of Wish Farms. “We have more acres this year and growing conditions have been ideal, with plenty of chill hours, so I feel we'll grow more than last year.” With Florida's growers nearing the peak of the season, storms hit parts of the state last week and made harvesting difficult. But even with weather setbacks, the rate at which growers have been producing blueberries has been impressive.
“Storms are relatively normal things we account for,” said Koukoulis. “I think you'll see blueberries from Florida through the end of May.” With good volumes, prices have been lower than usual. Koukoulis believes demand is good, but product has to move through the pipeline more smoothly for the market to improve.
“Prices are not where we'd like them to be,” said Koukoulis, “so we have to work better with retailers.” On April 17, prices for a flat of large blueberries were between $28.00 and $34.00 out of Florida.
For more information:
Teddy Koukoulis
Wish Farms
+1 813 752 5111