"Argentina: "This blueberry campaign was bittersweet"

A couple of weeks before the end of the blueberry campaign in Argentina, the producers of the province of Concordia, one of the main producers of this fruit, said that, despite their efforts, they had failed to meet their own expectations. "We had a very high forecast, but the weather conditions were not favorable. The long winter delayed the ripening of the fruit and we were unable to place our products on the market when the market offered the best prices," said Federico Lavista, from Delta Berries SA.

In mid-October prices collapsed in the United States. Within a few days they fell by 50%. "The early presence of Chile and Peru, which had already established itself as a competitor in the same period, saturated the market and complicated things for us. We are sure that producers had low returns," the representative stated.

"We'll have other challenges next year, but we must prepare and rise to the occasion. We have to comply with what we promise and be aware of what we can accomplish. The focus is on developing maritime shipments to advance. At present we export 85% of our blueberries by air, so our fruit is more expensive than that of the competition. We must seek agreements with shipping companies, so that all the parties, producers / exporters and shipping companies, know what the plans are for the next campaign," Lavista said.

Federico Lavista Llanos