Argentinean Blueberry European exports up on last year
Last year 4,049,098 tonnes of Argentinean blueberries were shipped to Europe, 62.6% of which were sent to the UK.
The latest figures from mid-December show total European exports as 4,740,559t – an increase of almost 700t at the same point last year.
ABC Manager, Inés Peláez said: “The 2011/12 season has been very successful so far. We’re expecting to ship approximately 500t more blueberries to Europe than in the previous season – a significant increase on last year’s exports.”
For the past three years, the ABC has been part of the Blueberries from the South campaign with Chile and Uruguay. This year, ABC launched a standalone European campaign to promote Argentinean blueberries in the UK, France, Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands. The new venture is designed to highlight Argentinean blueberries during their season, before Chilean blueberries come in to season in full volumes in December.
Peláez added: “The UK blueberry market is worth about £140 million and it seems that UK consumers are becoming more aware of this fruit - sales grew by about 14% last year. Research shows that 52% of UK blueberry consumption is for breakfast, so we believe that there is a great opportunity to develop this and other parts of the UK market in the future”.
Contact
Dominic Weaver or Ashleigh Mackenzie
Tel: (01480) 46595
Email: [email protected] / [email protected]