Peru exported 222,000 tons in the 2023/2024 season, i.e. 22.38% less than the 286,000 tons it shipped in the previous season. According to Fernando Cillóniz Benavides, president of the Inform@cción consulting firm, this decline was due to adverse weather conditions, such as cyclone Yaku, which significantly affected the northern coastal regions of Piura, Lambayeque, and La Libertad (key areas in the production of blueberries in the country) in March and April 2023. In addition, the warm winter affected the flowering of this and other crops.
Despite this contraction, Peru remained the world leader in blueberry exports. Cilloniz expects blueberry production to recover in the 2024/2025 campaign, thanks to better weather conditions, allowing the country to consolidate its leadership.
"Peru is being watched with great interest from all over the world. We are a world power in fruit exports. Blueberries are just one success story. The potential for other crops is also enormous and we'll seize it," Cillóniz stated. In January 2024, Peruvian blueberry exports reached $212 million, almost tripling the $72 million achieved in January 2023, according to data from Fluctuante.
Source: agraria.pe