Online, the International Blueberry Organization (IBO) held a webinar to share the most relevant aspects of its final report that will be released in September. Mario Steta, president of the organization, in his presentation of the progress, highlighted that the IBO report is becoming more complete every day, as the industry is maturing and there are more contributions coming from different regions. Data is critical and “everything it can give us, you know, on a solid factual basis, becomes increasingly relevant. Therefore, communication, opinion and transparency are key,” he highlighted.

new stage

Then, the leader of the analysts, Colin Fain, gave an extensive account of the historical development of the global blueberry industry, highlighting that there are two very important narratives. The first focuses on the period 2014 to 2022. “What we see there is an incredible growth rate. That is, in this period of nine years, the industry went from 250.000 metric tons to almost 900.000 metric tons.”

Then, 2023 sees a significant drop in volume. “However, the price jumped to the highest level we have seen in the history of this category,” which means, according to the analyst, that not only is the industry growing, but what we produced a year or two ago It is not enough to satisfy consumption.

4.3

Regarding the methodology for capturing data and information about the industry and its projections, Colin shares a very interesting parameter, which involves asking respondents how likely it is that they will invite a friend or colleague to be part of the industry. The result is amazing and this Net Promoter was 4.3, which is an incredibly high number. “I think this number is a reflection of the growth we saw in volumes. Along with those stable prices, there are opportunities, there is excitement, there is growth and the people in this industry are not only part of that, but they are actually creating it,” he assesses.

Quality

The IBO advance diagnoses that there is consistency and availability in the blueberry market. The change is moving more towards quality, in terms of firmness, size, flavor, texture, shelf life. This is one of the main dominant trends and it is influencing how genetics makes its way through the industry and how companies compete with genetics, but also supply chain logistics, cold chain and all other factors that affect the quality that reaches the consumer and the fruit they eat when they take it home.

Therefore, the market is increasingly incentivizing quality and price, particularly in some markets in Europe, the US and Asia. We are beginning to see differentiation by quality in relation to price more actively, not always by variety, but by quality, the report states.

Costs and mechanized harvest

In another aspect, the IBO preview highlights that capital expenditures on one hectare have increased considerably in the last 10 years in all producing regions and in all types of cold or climatic zones. There are great focuses on increasing efficiency by improving performance.

Machine harvesting of fresh produce, especially in very cold conditions, remains the Holy Grail that many pursue, although it is not yet scalable in a way that offers better quality. A lot of work is being done on the genetic side and the technology side of machine harvesting, as well as the post-harvest side and also field design. It is elusive and unreasonable to say at this time that there is a breakthrough, but there are many people in the industry working on it and it is a dominant trend substrate that is growing, the report adds.

Thai Chill

It also continues to have a profound impact on where blueberries are grown and how they move into the substrate, allowing them to move away from a focus on soil quality and toward water availability, labor availability and other dynamics. This is the core trend and is led by Thai Chill, new harvesting technology and course design. We're in the early stages of these things starting to come together. In a gradual march towards mechanized harvesting, a new paradigm shift that some anticipate will occur sometime in the next decade.

Growing consumption

Cort Brazelton in the conclusions highlights that “We continue to have constant demand. We have global consumption growth supporting this, but we are probably going to have a supply shock just because the weather is becoming more volatile. It doesn't mean it can't be stable for a year at some point too. Overall, we see all the signs of a maturing global industry. Consumption is growing around the world. There is no single concentrated source of consumption. “It spreads all over the world and our consumer base is expanding.”