The first blueberries of the season from the Belgian auction and cooperative Hoogstraten have hit the shelves this week. “The blueberries are looking very good this year,” says Hannah Docus of Coöperatie Hoogstraten. “The frosts that occurred during the flowering period presented some challenges, although fortunately the damage to our growers' plots was tolerable. The good spring weather in recent weeks has made the quality of the fruit excellent."

In Hoogstraten's range of berries, blueberries are second only to strawberries in terms of volume. “Blueberries, with their sweet and mild flavor, can be found in supermarkets, greengrocers and weekly markets until October. The blueberry bloom shows that they have been picked manually.

In fact, when the bloom disappears, the blueberries lose a lot of flavor. After picking, the berries are carefully placed on trays that are stacked in a refrigerated room for a short period of time before being sold."

According to Hannah, there is no doubt that the demand for blueberries matches the supply. “Harvest is in full swing right now. The early blueberries taste good, so the demand for the fruit will undoubtedly increase in the coming weeks. We are getting good prices at the auction,” says Hannah. "With this positive start, we expect a good season and we want to encourage consumers to buy blueberries from Belgian soil."