Mexico's berry season started in October and will last until next May. The expectations for this season are good despite the fact that the rains in Mexico have caused a slow start.
Produce Lovers, a producer, marketer and exporter of berries from the state of Jalisco and Michoacan expects the production will now normalize and that the blueberries and blackberries, the most important products for their business, will now have a good season start. Their most important export market is Canada, which makes them stand out from the competition, as other countries tend to export more to the United States.
The second most important market for Produce Lovers' blackberries is the United Kingdom, both in volume and prices, the latter of which is preceded by the Asian market. The company expects to ship 400 tons of blueberries to Canada, 300 to the United Kingdom, 200 tons to the United States and around 100 tons to Japan this year. According to Gerardo Lopez, they plan to export "1 million kilos, 900 thousand of which will be of conventional fruits, and the remainder of organic production."
"We recently put some new fields into production, so the million kilos to be exported are our own production. We are currently looking for earlier and later varieties, in order to have a longer season," Lopez said.
High competition in blueberries and almost zero in blackberries
The berry market grows annually and Mexican exporters are facing a greater competition of other countries that are increasing their productions, which leads to a decrease in prices, especially in North America. According to Gerardo Lopez, "lately we have been observing a preference for the Mexican blueberry in Japan and in the United Kingdom, where we are achieving a very good reputation."
"Our main competition is from Peru and Chile, which have a very similar season to the Mexican season, but that ends nearly two months before ours. Once their season ends, we compete with Florida, but consumers prefer the Mexican blueberry. In the case of the blackberry, the competition is completely different, since only Mexico has good production. Despite this, exports are expected to decrease this year, as some independent farmers have had a decrease in production," Lopez concluded.
For more information:
Gerardo A. López
Produce Lovers
México
T: +52 477 104 2023
E: gerardo.lopez@producelovers.com
www.berrylovers.net