The supply of blueberries continues to come in from Chile–the predominant growing region shipping fruit right now. "We expect supply to start getting tighter getting into February–it seems like the majority of fruit from there will be done by the end of February which is two to four weeks earlier than typical," says Joel Whitehead of Wish Farms.
This follows a much earlier start to the season for Chile. "Most varieties maintained that trend across the season and recent central-Chile heat waves have impacted the opportunity to maintain later season fresh exports," he says.
© Wish Farms
While there is some fruit from Peru as well, looking ahead, it will be primarily domestic and Mexican fruit come the beginning to the middle of March. Mexico shipped about 135 million lbs. across its 11 month season and it's expected to ship 10-20 percent less this season.
As for blueberry production in the southeast, this week's cold snap could change initial projected start times. "Florida is about two to three weeks ahead of last year. That would put in more traditional timing for them and we're expecting fairly good volume out of Florida by the end of March or beginning of April," says Whitehead.
© Wish Farms
Demand meeting supply
As for demand for blueberries, it's still strong. "As we're coming out of the Peruvian season, the quality has been fantastic for two months now. Even though Peru has exported quite a bit more late season fruit than projected, there's been enough demand to keep it going without bogging the market down too much," he says.
In the meantime, demand could stay that strong given U.S. growers have increased their commitment to quality and are looking at new varieties and technologies. "That's become more important than ever. They've been investing in new sorting technology and there is a real commitment among domestic growers to pursue quality and to make sure that they have fruit that consumers are going to want to eat because it's delicious and not just because it's grown in the U.S.," says Whitehead.
© Wish Farms
Altogether this is leaving pricing good and steady this season. It's expected that pricing will stay where it is for a few more weeks and then getting into February, it's likely to strengthen. "Based on the combined projections across all growing regions, March is going to be a fairly tight market across the blueberry commodity," adds Whitehead.
For more information:
Nick Wishnatzki
Wish Farms
Tel: +1 (813) 752-5111
[email protected]
www.wishfarms.com
