Berrygood grows, imports and markets berries in the Brazilian market all year round. "We sell blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, pomegranate seeds, golden berries (Physalis), strawberries, cherries and asparagus," lists Favero. The company´s holding has plantations in Brazil, Chile, Uruguay, Argentina, Mexico, USA, Portugal and Spain, switching its production from one country to the next one every two or three months. "That is our mission: to supply our customers with berries all year round," he affirms.
"The Brazilian season lasts from November to February," continues the trader. "Consumption of berries in Brazil is on the rise. In 2010, they were not part of the range of retailers, and now people are getting used to seeing them in Brazil. We face a lot of competition, not only in the field of berries, but also with all other fruits and vegetables."
This competition is a direct result of berries being a more expensive product than other fruits; "almost five times more expensive. You can buy a kilo of papayas for 10 R$/Real, but you can barely buy a 125 gram tub of blueberries for that price." The whole supply chain is more expensive because you need special refrigerated trucks, special packaging and deal with short shelf life among other things. He doesn’t believe you can do much to reduce prices. "If you increase the demand and volumes, prices will come down a bit, but not much. Berries are an expensive product anywhere in the world."
Given that it is a year-round production, the countries of origin take turns. At present, Brazil has blackberries from domestic producers, blueberries from the United States and raspberries from Portugal, in addition to asparagus from Peru and golden berries (Physalis) from Colombia.
"Every season we have to grow by at least 25%, as our share of the retail market stands at about 1%. As consumption continues to grow, the production caters to a rising number of customers and larger volumes have to be distributed; as a result, berries are becoming more famous in Brazil every year," he continues. "We sell nearly 20,000 kilos per month of fresh fruit and we expect to sell 100,000 kilos per month of fresh fruit plus frozen fruit, within the next three years. Strawberries and blackberries will be the fruits contributing the most to this growth. Strawberries are the most famous berry in Brazil. Everyone knows strawberries, although very few people know the other berries. In Brazil, we have always had strawberries, but not blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, etc."
Berrygood has a great team. "Our company has nearly one hundred employees: labourers in the fields, a sales team in every state of Brazil, and our main office in São Paulo. It is a large team." The company is focused on the retail sector, but also supplies the foodservice sector in the cities of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.
For more information:Gustavo Favero
Berrygood
Brasil
T: +55 11 2659-3060
E: contato@berrygood.com.br
www.berrygood.com.br