The Chilean blueberry committee has published its weekly report about the season, in which it is mentioned that the exports are starting the peak volumes. Although the industry is preparing for the bigger volumes, the shipments of week 49 were below the initially projected volume at 6,652 tons. However, data inputs were still in progress when the recent crop report got published, so the volumes will be corrected in the coming report.
Although the start of the season was not without challenges, Andrés Armstrong, Executive Director of the Committee of Blueberries of Chile-ASOEX states that it’s been reasonably good for the national super fruit. “We have about 9% more fruit exported compared to this date last year. Starting the peak shipping period, means to say exports exceed 7 thousand tons on a weekly basis. The start of the season has been reasonably good, except for a few weeks because of greater supply from other origins in the destination markets. In addition, the effects of the hailstorm and the climate delayed the ripening and the harvest of the fruits a little bit.”
Producing areas
The crop report publishes that the harvests continue progressing normally. “The focus right now is in the central south zone, mainly VII Region. The north zone is in the final stage of its season, while the central north zone shows decreasing volumes. The south zone is starting but still with very low volumes.
Up to week 49, a total of 17,100 tons has been shipped, of which 66% of this has been sent to North America. Followed by a 23% to Europe and 15% to the Far East. “This season, like last, we see a growth in exports to Europe. This is the result of the growing blueberry consumption in, for example, Sweden, France, Poland, Italy and Spain. In China we are seeing how the market behaves, because it has had less fruit from Peru, "said the Executive Director.