Chile's blueberry harvest is progressing positively, especially in the northern part of the country, where producers have reported high temperatures and higher output volumes than in the previous season.
Blueberry exports up to week 40 amounted to 174 tons, much higher than the 64 tons exported by the same week last year. In addition, organic volumes still account for 38% of the total shipped to date. In addition, shipments to North America reactivated this last week, for an accumulated total of 82 tons.
Production slowed down in the northern central zone this last week, due to a drop in maximum temperatures. Meanwhile, production in the south central zone hasn't started yet due to a similar climate effect.
Despite these figures, Chilean blueberry exports could fall by up to 7% in the 2018-2019 season, according to an analysis made by consultants and specialists that suggests that there could be a slight drop in the next fresh blueberry export season, a fact that contrasts with the successful closing of the 2017-2018 period.
Despite this forecast, experts say that sales abroad won't fall below 100,000 tons, so the picture is not at all unfavorable. In fact, to alleviate this decline, the board of directors of the Blueberry Committee wanted to emphasise some modifications, such as the incorporation of new varieties, increasing the final product's quality, and developing new processed products with the berries that can't be exported fresh.