Currently, blueberries marketed in the US come largely from Chile, which began shipping this year to supply the East Coast of the North American country, while Mexican supplies go mainly to the West Coast. , reported Fresh Plaza.

«Supplies from Chile have been good so far. However, there are some labor supply issues there, which creates headaches from a production standpoint, mainly due to competition for that labor," says Tom Beaver of Sunny Valley International. based in Glassboro, New Jersey, who adds that Peruvian supplies have also stopped earlier than expected this year: "Last year they were a little longer and they were always reduced around this time. "But it seems like the decline has been a little more drastic this year."

However, the biggest concern is shipping delays due to issues at the port of Los Angeles. «They have seen an increase not only in the arrival of products, but also in durable goods that are sold online. That has created an unprecedented delay at the port,” says Beaver. «Everything has fallen apart because of this. The ships that were supposed to arrive at the beginning of the week », he indicates.

Beaver emphasizes that the challenges are in scheduling the availability of the fruit for the immediate future. Delays like this could create some worrying scenarios. «I think what we're going to see ultimately is the volume that was destined for the West Coast coming here. That hasn't happened yet, at least in the ports of Wilmington and Philadelphia, which are our two main hubs. But that could create problems for us from a marketing standpoint if fruit originally destined for the West Coast starts coming here,” he says.

That said, he does not foresee the Chilean season ending later than usual given these logistical challenges. “We have a lot of volume booked and on the way from now until the end of March,” says Beaver, who details that “There is less fruit available each day and that has caused an increase in demand in general,” says Beaver.

He adds that this product has behaved like a commodity during the pandemic. «In the last year we have seen strong demand on a fairly constant basis. The increase in grocery shopping and online shopping has helped keep demand fairly stable,” says Beaver, adding that as part of this, consumers have also become interested in larger package sizes of blueberries this year.

Looking ahead, Beaver notes that peak volumes from Chile should arrive in the next week or so and extend into early March. “We think there will be a lot of market opportunities and we anticipate that prices and demand will be quite strong,” he says. «But if things suddenly open up and all kinds of volume comes in this direction, we will have to react. “We take one day at a time,” he says.