(Photo courtesy of Joanna Sapala, Baltic Berry)
The Polish blueberry season usually runs from the first of July through to the end of August, but very sunny days this summer with high temperatures has put a halt to the season. However, berry producers in the North, Baltic Berry, and South of Poland, Elliot, have reported good quality.
"Production was bigger than last year in the North of Poland. However, production was lower in 2015, so we are back to usual production. The weather did not cause any serious problems. Although we had frequent rains especially in August, but luckily there were no long lasting periods of rainy days in a row. If this had been a case it would have been much worse." said Joanna Sapala from Baltic Berry.
(Photo courtesy of Joanna Sapala, Baltic Berry)
(Photo courtesy of Joanna Sapala, Baltic Berry)
Located in Southern Poland, Dorota Zegota from Elliot said that due to their location, they did not experience any weather setbacks such as rain. Zegota also shared that their blueberry production increased, but she said that this also has something to do with their blueberry plants maturing.
"Demand continues to increase year on year with more customers, plants and volume. Young plantation, so there is more fruit year on year. There is only one section which is 40 years old, but the rest were planted in 2007." said Zegota.
"Our oldest plantation, still has the traditional Bluecrop variety, but we have been focussing on primarily modern varieties such as Liberty and Duke in our newer plantations."
Most producers in Poland have made the switch to modern varieties, including the later varieties to extend the season such as Liberty, Aurora and Elliot , but unfortunately this did not help this season.
(Photo courtesy of Joanna Sapala, Baltic Berry)
Western Europe, especially the UK, remains the largest market for Polish growers. However, shipments to the UK have now reduced with the start of their own domestic season. Zegota from Elliot shared that most shipments during this last part of the season are going to Germany and the Netherlands.
Baltic berry supplies both loose and packed blueberries for export, depending on customer requirements. "However I believe packing at source has better results for fruit condition and shelf life." said Sapala.
"Blueberry demand continues to grow in many countries and we have a lot of queries from different markets. What is particularly interesting we noticed considerable growth of the Polish market as well." concluded Joanna Sapala from Baltic Berry.
Along with the traditional markets, Elliot is looking to Asia as a new market for exports. The company will be present at this years' Asia Fruit Logistica, as part of the Polish Berry Cooperative, under the name Berrygroup Sp Zoo and can be visited at Hall 3a, stand E31.
For more information: 
Joanne Sapala
Baltic Berry
Tel: +48 604407778
Fax: +48 914831663
Tel: +48 604407778
Fax: +48 914831663
Doro
ta Zegota
ta ZegotaElliot
Tel: +48 503615446
Email: biuro@elliot.pl