An international coalition of blueberry companies and organizations has been formed, including Driscoll's, Chilean Blueberry Committee; Chilealimentos, Hortifruit, among others, to oppose restrictions on imports into the US.

The creation of the Blueberry Coalition for Progress & Health comes amid a global Section 201 safeguard investigation into blueberry imports by the International Trade Commission (ITC), which could result in trade barriers such as tariffs .

ITC will hold a hearing on this issue on January 12.

All Coalition members agreed that the imports are not a substantial cause of serious injury to the US blueberry industry.

The members of the Coalition are: Agroberries SA; Alpine Fresh Inc .; Aneberries AC; Berries Paradise SAPI de CV; California Giant Berry Farms; Camposol Fresh USA; Inc .; Driscoll's, Inc .; Family Tree Farms; Fresh Produce Association of the Americas; Giddings Berries; Hortifruit; Andrew & Williamson Fresh Produce; Pro Cranberries; United Exports Limited; Reiter Affiliated Companies; Chilean Blueberry Committee; Chilealimentos.

Consumer goods

US consumption of blueberries, per capita, has seen an increase of more than 300% since 2005 and is now at an all-time high of 1,79 pounds per person. The Coalition believes that restricting blueberry imports into the US will limit consumer access to the fruit.

They added that domestic producers cannot supply, on their own, the growing demand of US consumers for an annual supply, and therefore imports are crucial both to meet current demand and to continue growing the market.

“Our family has been farming in the United States for more than 10 generations, and our headquarters are in the San Joaquin Valley in California. Our decision to grow in Mexico and Peru, as well as the US, was a direct response from our retail customers for producing and delivering quality blueberries year-round, ”explained Dave Jackson, Family Tree Farms co-owner and key member. of the Coalition.

“If we could grow blueberries year-round exclusively in the United States, we would, but seasonal crops like blueberries require production in other countries to meet growing annual consumer demand.”

Demand

Demand for blueberries has exploded in the US and supply has followed suit. While imports of fresh and frozen blueberries have grown in the last five years, so have domestic shipments of both types of products. Production and sales volumes indicate that both domestic and import supplies have their own separate growing seasons.

The seasonal nature of domestic production means that US-grown blueberries are essentially unavailable for 20-30 weeks of the year to most US consumers; and the vast majority of the increase in imports of fresh blueberries has occurred during these months.

About 80% of imported fresh blueberries enter the United States in off-peak weeks, meaning the vast majority of imports do not compete with domestic blueberries, the Coalition said.

Given the lack of temporal overlap when the two sources of supply are present in the US market, imported and domestic blueberries look better as add-ons than substitutes, they noted.

“The domestic industry has achieved double-digit operating margins in every year of the time period included in the US International Trade Commission (ITC) investigation, which compares favorably with broader agricultural industry benchmarks.” added Joe Barsi, president of California Giant Farms of Watsonville, Calif. and also a prominent member of the Coalition.

“At California Giant Berry Farms, our mission is to deliver high-quality berries and take care of our growers. We believe that the supply of off-season imports has increased consumption in the US and has helped the health of the national blueberry industry. "

US fresh blueberry production and shipments are highly concentrated over a 20-week period from late April to early September. More than 90% of fresh blueberries in the US are sold during the 20-week peak season, according to a statement from the Coalition.

Farmers in the big blueberry producing states, including North Carolina and New Jersey, sell all of their blueberries in peak weeks. Farmers in other large blueberry producing states, including Georgia, California, Oregon and Washington, sell more than 90% of their harvest in peak weeks.

Farmers in every US state except Florida sell at least 80% of their fresh blueberry crop within the 20-week peak season in the US, the Coalition added.

"The US blueberry market is thriving, and our goal is to ensure that we continue to fairly meet market demand for this delicious and healthy fruit," added Barsi.

“Blueberry imports are crucial to US consumers, retailers and the economy and clearly contribute to the success of the domestic industry. We are launching this Coalition to alert America's blueberry lovers and to educate decision makers on what is at stake with their next actions; and to prevent the destruction of the thriving and essential blueberry industry. "