Supplies of blueberries into the U.S. are plentiful currently. “The volume on Peruvian blueberries is way up from last year, especially on conventional blueberries,” says Tony Biondo of Trucco Inc. He notes that planting in Peru increases every year given blueberries are the country’s largest export. “And if prices are better in other markets, then they’ll send them there. But right now they’re sending a lot more volume here.”
Shipments began on time in August and Biondo says with the volume this year, Peru could continue to ship until March. Meanwhile, Argentina is also still sending some small volume of blueberries but is essentially wrapping up. Chile will begin in the New year with smaller shipments in early January, building towards more significant volume by the end of January.
Blueberries on ad
As for demand, Biondo says it’s good and it’s ad-driven. “We have some retailers that are pushing them and put them on ad a month or two ago. We told them now would be a good time because there’s so much volume coming in,” he says. “People don’t always consider this time of year blueberry season but it’s all year round now. There’s no gapping really.”
All of this means pricing right now is a little weaker given the volume in the marketplace. It’s also slightly lower than last year at this time, but almost on par. And it may stay that way for the near future at least.
“The market is going to get even more saturated in the next few weeks with more volume. Hopefully, by the end of November, pricing will come up a little bit,” says Biondo.
For more information:
Yasmin Pacia
Trucco Inc.
Tel: +1 (866) 258-7822
ypacia@truccodirect.com
https://truccodirect.com/