In Mexico, the raspberry and blackberry season starts in September. This year, the season started on time and looks to be a normal season, maintaining the trends of the previous years.
Photo credit: Aneberries.
Expanding volumes each year
Mario A. Ramirez Espinoza from Aneberries, the National Association of Berry Exporters in Mexico which is made up of 30 producing and exporting companies, shares: “The season so far has been pretty normal, with good weather. Last season, we exported 101,335 tons of raspberries and 82,910 tons of blackberries, but the year-by-year volumes continue to grow.”
This year, the growth in volumes of the past few years is expected to be maintained, “although it may be lower than previous seasons,” says Espinoza, “but we’re expecting to see good volumes,” he adds.
In the 2019-2020 export season, 97% of the raspberries and blackberries went to North America, 2.41% to Europe, 0.53% to Asia, 0.09% to South America and 0.01% to Oceania. “While we have a worldwide presence, North America remains by large the biggest export destination for us,” says Espinoza.
Photo credit: Aneberries.
Ups and downs due to pandemic
In the spring, there were a few challenges with labor shortages due to the pandemic. Fortunately, this has been resolved and no major effects on harvest were experienced due to this. The pandemic also had an impact on demand at the end of last season: “The overall demand and supply remained stable, though there were slight variations at the beginning of the pandemic,” shares Espinoza.
“We saw a high demand at the beginning of the pandemic, but during the weeks following this immediately dropped down again, and returned to the normal trends of the season, with respective price adjustments. Still, last season we ended up being up by 14%,” says Espinoza.
Currently, the Mexican berry industry is facing the investigation 332 by the United States International Trade Commission. “Both producers and exporters of raspberries with a focus on processing are working to protect the interests of the Mexican industry,” Espinoza concludes.
Photo credit: Aneberries.
For more information:
Mario A. Ramirez Espinoza
Aneberries
Tel: +52 (33) 3831 3643
Email: estadisticas@aneberries.mx
www.aneberries.mx