Rainbow Superfood's blueberry farms in Rawsonville and Lambertsbaai in the Western Cape are starting the harvest at a time when prices are improving slightly, after a terrible season in which growers have been selling their blueberries at very low prices. below cost just to keep the programs going.

In both Europe and Southeast Asia (Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong), South Africa was "suffocated" by Peru this season, says Tiaan Rossouw, managing director of Rainbow Superfoods.

He notes that in Southeast Asia, buyers appear to be mostly price-driven, preferring the lower-priced Peruvian blueberries to South African berries.

The good news is that Peru is winding down, and Chile reportedly might not be shipping as much to Europe. It has been a very bad season in terms of prices, he says.

“I was surprised at the prices some people were selling their blueberries for. And just a few years ago, they were getting four or five times that. Most of the South African blueberry growers supplied in the main marketing window which is now ending. We continue a little more, until January”.

Western Cape quality issues baffle growers

Quality issues in blueberries from the Western Cape, for example soft arrivals of blocks of previously sound blueberries, are perplexing the blueberry industry.

“From what I heard, the packaging was very bad, even here in the Western Cape, which I can't understand, as we had good growing conditions, we didn't have a heat wave like the northern guys had in September.” .

Entry for the frozen sector was halted last week when Euroberry announced that it had received 3.000 tonnes of blueberries and would not accept more.

“We have been lucky, we have had very good quality so far, but the price is not there,” he says. “The price is around 1,50 euros per box lower than last year, which was already a low price. In air freight, the price is $3 lower than the lowest it has ever been.”

He says airfreight to the East and also to the Middle East killed them this season.

“It's probably around 20% more than last year. And it seems that container rates are higher again. Container rates are around $10.000 right now.”

Zimbabwe's extended campaign complicated South Africa's start.

The season already went off the rails earlier this year, he notes, when Zimbabwean blueberry growers decided to extend their season after disappointing early results.

Rainbow Superfood supplies blueberries from Zimbabwe around week 15, but this year, between weeks 38 and 40, buyers indicated a preference for South African berries.

“Zimbabwe still has a window, but the guys have started to realize that there won't be such a thing as a good window. Typically, Zimbabwean farms pick 60-70% of their berries early in the season and it works well because the first 60-70% is usually of high quality. Then they stop and start pruning, then their yields have been sufficient. Their overhead costs are much lower in Zimbabwe than here and most of them are geared toward packing on the farm.”

This year the first returns were disappointing and they expanded their blueberry campaign, to the detriment of the early South African season.

"The price will probably never be lower than it is now."

In retrospect, the intense expansion into blueberries in South Africa, which was still going strong last year, was probably not the wisest move, he notes.

“In two years there will be even more blueberries on the market and I have to say I don't know how blueberry growers are going to survive. When I do the sums it's just not feasible. The price will probably never be lower than it is now."

Producers sell only to cover the cost of sales and barely cover production costs. In a cardboard box, the selling prices are R50 (2,8 euros) below the break-even point.

The price will eventually recover, he thinks, but next year will be a repeat of this one.

He argues that the fundamental change will have to come from logistics providers and consumers, and across all crops, not just blueberries, "otherwise, good times are not ahead."

Purely price-driven buyers and consumers are hastening the demise of producers. As it is, farms will probably start laying off workers.

He estimates a fair price at the packinghouse of R70 (3,9 euros) per kilogram, before transport costs, for tubs (it would be a little less for bulk) for a farmer who does not pay a loan. Loan repayments would factor in another R10 at your suggestion for a fair price.