"Sales of blueberries not encouraged by the strategies of importers"

Argentina expects to finish the blueberry campaign in late December, while Peru is currently midway and Chile is reporting its first shipments. Sources within the sector say that "international importers and supermarkets are increasingly reluctant to switch to marketing strategies that encourage the continued sale of this perishable fruit."

As previously reported, the import prices for this fruit have decreased significantly over the last six weeks, but retail prices have remained at the same level. "European supermarkets are keeping retail prices high, while we are offered low prices, which causes the fruit to be kept in storage for longer than usual," affirm Argentinian producers.

One of the challenges that Argentina and Uruguay have to face is the transit times, which are very long. Regarding this situation, exporters comment that "it is more important than ever for maritime shipments to develop in order to save freight costs and minimise the losses. Ideally, the shipping companies should have containers available, given that the lack of these at origin is a serious problem. Furthermore, we need an improvement in transit times to be able to use this option intensely and become more competitive."