According to European horticultural analyst Cindy van Rijswick, based in Rabobank’s headquarters in the Netherlands, berry businesses are expanding across the globe and stonefruits are set to be the next big thing.
Ms Rijswick visited Melbourne last week and talked about the success of berries, in particular blueberries.
“Berries are a growth category in Europe and Australia and a lot of growers have switched to berries from less profitable crops,” Ms Rijswick said.
“While that’s partly because of their health benefits, it’s also because of their convenience and if you compare blueberries to something like oranges, they are much easier to eat, there’s less hassle and they visually look nice.
“In the US and the UK blueberries are a big part of retailers’ fresh produce and they now offer a complete assortment all year round which means growers are expanding and are developing better varieties.”
She predicts stonefruit will be the next big thing after berries.
“Often the problem with stonefruit is that they are too ripe or not ripe enough, but there has been some big improvement around that,” Ms Rijswick said. “I believe they will be the next big thing after berries with new varieties coming on the market.”
Ms Rijswick said growers in the Netherlands were often focused on high productivity and efficiency, but were becoming more open to growing new varieties.
“Traditionally they are thinking how much produce they are growing per square metre and aren’t focused on the marketing side, but there is a bit more focus on tastier varieties,” she said.
“The line of thinking has always been people want the cheapest stuff, and consumers do still want that, but there is a growing group that will pay for flavoursome produce.”
Source: weeklytimesnow.com.au
