The Dutch and German blueberry season got off to a good start this year. "We can speak of a top harvest. The fruit set has been excellent, which led to good flowering," says Harm Valckx of the Coöperatie European Blueberry Growers. The cooperative includes growers from the Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Serbia, and Lithuania. "We've added several new growers, which has further increased the volume within the group," he says.
"We still see some supply of Portuguese and Romanian blueberries on the market. Serbia has already passed its peak. The Polish harvest is starting very late this year; they'll begin harvesting next week and reach full production by mid-July. That's when market pressure will increase," Harm expects. "For now, prices are reasonably good, but we're seeing, as we did last year, that German supermarkets are already trying to push prices down."
According to Harm, Dutch blueberry growers have invested heavily in harvesting mechanisation. "The product price is no longer rising much, while costs have increased significantly. By now, most Dutch growers have harvesting machines to bring down their cost price. With hand-picking, blueberry cultivation in the Netherlands becomes very difficult — labour costs are simply too high. But with FineField's harvesting machines, the berries are of the same quality as those picked by hand."
"In the Netherlands, due to cost pressure, we're seeing a decline in acreage. Older varieties are gradually being replaced by new ones that produce more kilos per hectare and offer better quality," Harm notes. The cooperative's berries are packed by Berry Packing Services in Venlo. The packing facility will be expanded by 2,500 m² this year. From mid-September, this additional space and the new cold storage units will be operational.
"We're seeing various market efforts to switch to cardboard packaging for blueberries. We're not enthusiastic about this. Cardboard is currently more expensive than plastic, and in our view, recycled plastic is also more sustainable," Harm observes. He expects stable berry sales in the coming years. "In recent years, the blueberry market saw rapid growth, but the hype has now subsided. We're mainly seeing stabilisation, especially in the German market, where the economy is somewhat sluggish."
For more information:
Harm Valckx
Coöperatie European Blueberry Growers U.A.
Tel: +31 (0)77 7650000
[email protected]