North America is nearing the end of its blueberry season which results in very tight supplies. “British Columbia, Washington and Oregon are still harvesting, but these are later varieties that yield about half the tonnage compared to the middle-season varieties,” says Paul Smit with California Fruit Company. “We are in a supply gap period right now and everybody is waiting for Peru to start shipping larger volumes,” Smit added. Will prices become even steeper?
Blueberries are in very high demand. In North America, more than 300 million pounds are available and marketed each year. Because of the gap between the domestic market and the import market, prices are pretty steep. “The price for a pint of blueberries is in the $30 range and I believe this could go up in the next few weeks,” mentioned Smit. Peru has started shipping light volumes to the East Coast, but it is going to take another three to four weeks for bigger volumes to arrive.
On an annual basis, California Fruit Company ships about six to eight million pounds of blueberries. The company is the second largest blueberry grower in CA, shipping five million pounds in the state. Additionally, California Fruit sells a balance of 3 million lbs. from Oregon and British Columbia.
For more information:
Paul Smit
California Fruit Company
Tel: (+1) 877-378-4811