Due to climate effects and technological improvements, the blueberry season in Yunnan has advanced by nearly two months, with a small amount already on the market in early November. "The planting area of blueberries in Yunnan continues to expand, and the yield of some advantageous early varieties has increased. Therefore, the yield in the early stage is greater than before. The price is also higher." Mark Ma from Manshi Blueberry said.
"Early varieties that are popular in the market include patented varieties such as Spain and Eureka. This year, the output of Eureka has been reduced, and it has been upgraded to other varieties with a better taste. The planting area of the variety, Spain, has increased, but it is currently in the early stage, and the first crop yield is not large. Due to the recent rain, only a small amount is currently shipped. The taste and hardness of this variety are close to ideal."
Regarding the recent market performance of Yunnan blueberries, Mark mentioned a prominent phenomenon. "Because growers have higher expectations for early varieties, the price at the origin and market price are inverted. Earlier, the price of some advantageous varieties at the origin was ￥130-160/kg. If you include packaging materials, sorting, labor, freight and other expenses, the wholesale price in the market may be ￥230-￥240/piece, making the sales slower."
"With the development of the season, the current average wholesale price in the market is: 15mm+ and 18mm+ fruits are sold for about ￥150-160/piece and ￥170-180/piece. Even if the origin price has been reduced, it does not match the market price. Many growers are dissatisfied with the price and prefer to reduce shipments and choose to sell by themselves directly. They sell single boxes to end consumers through live broadcasts, e-commerce, and existing clients with ideal prices and sales results. This has happened before, but especially this year. As a result, the increase in blueberries on the wholesale market has slowed down."
According to Mark's estimation, as the volume of e-commerce blueberries becomes increasingly close to saturation and the harvest increases, perhaps growers will increase shipments to the wholesale market in the next two weeks, and prices may fall back to normal.
Manshi Blueberry specializes in the "Jewel" variety. According to Mark, the "Jewel" produced by Manshi has the advantages of being on the market earlier and having a higher sugar content. "After careful and fine management, our "Jewel" can be put on the market one month earlier than most growers, and we have already carried out several rounds of harvesting. Most of the first crops will have large fruits of 20mm+ and 22mm+, and then medium-large fruits will dominate. Conventional "Jewel" has a sour taste, so the number is decreasing. However, after we improved the water and fertilizer ratio, the sweet-sour ratio is more reasonable and the taste is more suitable for the market."
Regarding the market opportunities for "Jewel", Mark said that the season of early varieties generally lasts until March, and then there is a window period, and the amount of blueberries on the market decreases. "Our Jewel variety is already in high production by March, and we can use this window period for sales. The production season can last until June."
"Currently, the market's attention is focused on imported cherries or domestic citrus. Blueberries are not popular enough and are only in regular volume. I believe that after the Chinese New Year, blueberry sales will be more prosperous."
Manshi Blueberry has a planting base of over 66.66 hectares in Yunnan, focusing on blueberry planting and sales. Its cooperative customers include Hema Fresh, China Resources Vanguard, and Yonghui.