The El Niño weather pattern has really affected Peruvian blueberries, cutting the US supply roughly in half. Nearly half as many blueberries from Peru reached American stores last week, compared to the same week last year. The supply has dropped as much as 70% in the past month.
Kasey Cronquist, the president of both the US Highbush Blueberry Council and the North American Blueberry Council: “The enthusiasm for blueberries is still super high, even though there is a low supply.” Since Peru sends the US about a third of its total blueberry supply of 1.3 billion pounds, it’s been difficult to source blueberries across American grocery stores.
This, in turn, has pushed up prices. Since the beginning of September, retail prices are up 60% to nearly $6 per pound. In the past two months, blueberries have increased $2 per container. Some 27 million pounds less have sold compared to last year.
Source: forbes.com
