For the second year in a row, Chile is promoting organic blueberry production at BIOFACH (World Organic Food Fair), held from 13 to 16 February in Nuremberg, Germany. This fair brings together more than 3.000 exhibitors from 93 countries at the Nuremberg Exhibition Center, Germany.

"BIOFACH is the main fair for organic products in the world, so it is essential to be present in it. Although, last year we participated, us We do it with greater force, with the presence of the Committee of Cranberries of Chile, and especially in a season in which it has seen a greater increase to the 50% of the exports of Chilean organic blueberries, "said Charif Christian Carvajal, Director of ASOEX Marketing for Asia and Europe.

For her part, Julia Pinto, Technical Manager of the Blueberry Committee-ASOEX, highlighted this participation, since it allows to visualize better opportunities for organic blueberries from Chile, as well as to present the available offer of this fruit in one of the main fairs of the world in terms of organic products.

"We have been at the stand in Chile, holding various meetings with representatives of companies seeking to learn about our industry, and especially about our blueberries. It has been a good experience because we have been able to make good contacts, provide timely information, as well as, during the Congress we have been able to visualize trends in consumption, packaging, plastic, sustainability and organic products ", indicated the representative of the Committee.

The professional also highlighted the increase in organic blueberry exports this 2018-2019 export season. Moreover, in its last Crop Report, the Committee revealed that as of week 6-2019, organic shipments of fresh Chilean blueberries totaled 11.870 tons, representing at the same time an increase of 42% compared to the same week last season.

Organic: Record Growth

According to the latest FiBL survey, during 2017 there was a record for organic agriculture worldwide, since organic farmland, the number of organic producers and retail sales of organic products grew significantly in the 181 countries surveyed (data as of the end of 2017).

In this sense, the research indicates that in the world there would be more than 69.8 million hectares of organic agricultural land. The regions with the largest areas of organic agricultural land are Oceania (35.9 million hectares, which is half of the world's organic agricultural land) and Europe (14.6 million hectares, 21 percent of the world total).

For its part, Latin America has 8 million hectares (11% of total), followed by Asia (6.1 million hectares, 9%), North America (3.2 million hectares, 5%) and Africa (2.1 million hectares , 3%).

In terms of countries, those with the most organic agricultural land are Australia (35,6 million hectares), Argentina (3,4 million hectares) and China (3 million hectares).

The study also highlights that almost a quarter of the world's organic agricultural land (16,8 million hectares) and more than 87% (2,4 million) of the producers were in developing countries and emerging markets.

As for the organic food market, the study indicates that it continues its upward trajectory, since global sales reached 97 one billion dollars in 2017.

Organic food is now grown in almost all countries, yet demand remains concentrated, as the analysis indicates that North America and Europe account for almost 90 percent of global income. Both regions represent only a quarter of the organic land area, which shows that although domestic markets are now developing, much of the organic crops grown in Asia, Africa and Latin America are destined for export markets, as is the case of Chile, whose main destination is the United States.