With a blueberry boom in the 2000’s, the best lands and varieties were sought in Argentina, with growers trying to take advantage of the counter-season production to reach the North American countries in August. This business scheme reached its zenith in 2008, when Argentina exported close to 20 million kilos. The country was making its way behind Chile, which had fallen sharply and was by then the leading producer in Latin America.
However, things got complicated in Argentina itself (inflation, exchange rate split from 2011, tax schemes, withholdings, etc.). Meanwhile, the competition did not sit still and other countries also strongly increased their production, particularly Peru. This nation became the world's largest exporter. According to an INTA study, between 1995 and 2015, world blueberry production tripled, going from 23.600 to 66.400 tons.
Alejandro Pannunzio, president of the Argentine Blueberry Committee: “As the world developed exponentially, blueberry prices fell.” According to a study prepared by the Directorate of Agricultural Production with data from INDEC, the value of exported fresh blueberries fell from $ 7.328 to $ 4.790 per ton between 2010 and 2019.
This meant that, what was initially profitable to send by plane now had to be sent by sea to remain profitable. This substitution of freight, in turn, required changes in the useful life of the fruit, which now had to be extended, and in the harvest date, which had to be anticipated, which implied new agronomic learning about this shrub, with high costs associated with failure.
Source: blueberriesconsulting.com
