Peru is expected to export 222,714 tons of blueberries in this campaign. A large percentage of the fruit will correspond to the oldest sown varieties in Peru. This, however, may not be the case in the future as the country began its varietal replacement in the current campaign, stated Ricardo Polis, regional director of Fall Creek Farm & Nursery.
"The revolution in blueberry consumption has already begun, as it happened with grapes before. In the short term, consumers will have better quality fruit, that is sweeter, has better sizes, and is crispier. The new varieties will let producers achieve higher productivity per hectare and decrease harvesting costs," he added. In fact, the new varieties have average yields above 28,000 kilos per hectare, while the ones used now yield almost 20,000 kilos.
According to Polis, Peru is leading the replacement of varieties in the blueberry market and it's expected to export more than 300,000 tons of blueberries in 2025, nearly 120,000 tons of which will be of new genetic varieties. "That's a very important volume and it will attract the attention of the best supermarkets in the world. Morocco, Mexico, and Chile have also started to replace their varieties," he added.
Regarding the new production areas, Polis pointed out that the regions of Ancash (Callejón de Huaylas) and Cajamarca have the right thermal conditions to produce blueberries with an exceptional flavor.
Source: gestion.pe / agraria.pe