During the first five months of 2014, Peru's fresh blueberry exports totalled $ 5.3 million; an increase of 428.4% compared to the same period of 2013, according to the Association of Agricultural Producers of Peru (Agap).
From January to May last year, blueberry shipments totalled one million dollars, and this year, during January and February alone, a total of four million dollars was obtained from those exports.
During the period at hand (January-May), exports of this fruit not only quintupled in value, but also in volume.
At the end of 2013, the value of all blueberry shipments amounted to $ 17.4 million, representing a huge increase compared with what was obtained in 2012, when they did not even reach one million dollars.
Meanwhile, other new products that started to obtain noteworthy results for Peru from January to late May include passion fruit, with a 64% increase in export volumes; watermelons (+121%), strawberries (+147), melons (+151%) and figs (+151%).
According to figures provided by Agap, all fruits exported achieved a growth of 51.6%, from $ 374 million to 567 million.
In recent months alone, fresh grape exports reached a total of $ 232 million; an increase of 78.8% compared with the same period of 2013 (129 million).
Meanwhile, avocados increased from 65 million to $ 96.6 million; an increase of 48.3%, while fresh mangoes totalled $ 119 million; 93 million more than last year (+26.8%).
As for the main destinations for Peruvian fruit, Asia continues to be the biggest market, followed by North America and Europe.
Source: andina.com.pe
