Freshuelva sees in the national market a consumer niche for cranberry that "we must work"
The organization of producers of red fruits, Freshuelva, has opened this morning the cycle of conferences of the II Technical Conference of the Cultivation of the Blueberry of the province of Huelva. The manager of Freshuelva, Rafael Domínguez, with a presentation on the productive evolution of this fruit in Huelva lands and the technical director of Freshuelva, Mamen Mingorance, who spoke about phytosanitary tools, were the first interventions.
Rafael Domínguez has highlighted the important consumer market that is our country for a product such as cranberry, on which "we must work". The manager of Freshuelva, according to agrodiariohuelva.es, has made an analysis of the evolution of the cranberry sector in the province of Huelva, which already occupies 1.953 hectares, having experienced significant growth in recent years.
The blueberry has caught the attention of Huelva producers in the sector of red fruits that for years have seen the need to diversify the strawberry crop, so that the blueberry along with raspberry and blackberry are clear objectives of the farmers of Huelva . The manager of Freshuelva has called attention to the fact that the increase in production expected in the short and medium term should have an outlet in the market. From the organization of producers markets are explored and among them is the national market, "where we have to work to make this product known".
The promotion of cranberry in Spain "is essential", underlined Rafael Domínguez, who has also recommended producers to forget such as: 'the strawberry is sold alone' or 'the blueberry is sold alone' because it is a serious mistake . He gave as an example the formula used by countries that are large producers and sellers such as France or Chile "that program important promotional campaigns".
The manager of Freshuelva has ended saying that "there is a market for blueberries but we have to make the product known and, in this area, we still have a lot to do".
United Kingdom is another one of the great markets of the blueberry of Huelva; the latest recorded data indicate that the 32% of cranberry exports have arrived in this country, followed by Germany with the 31%.
The benefits for the health of the blueberry is another of the tricks that Rafael Domínguez has pointed out in which they must incidir to promote and expand the markets, by the interest that they put in them the last links of the commercial chain and the consumers.
Regarding the blueberry competitors from Huelva, the Freshuelva manager has drawn attention to the increase in the cultivation area that is detected in Mediterranean or North African countries such as Italy, Turkey, Egypt and especially Morocco.
Massive assistance
The conference, which was held at the Felipe Godínez theater in Moguer, has raised strong interest among the sector to the point that the organization, the Huelva Delegation of the Official College of Agricultural Technical Engineers of Western Andalusia, COITAND, has seen overwhelmed by the reception of subscriptions. The theater's stalls have been filled with technicians and producers from different parts of the country, although the majority came from Andalusian provinces and neighboring Portuguese.
After Rafael Domínguez, Mamen Mingorance intervened with an exhaustive lecture on the legislation and processes related to authorizations of phytosanitary tools. This has pointed out that one of the objectives of the producer organization is to obtain for the minor uses (productions such as berries) the authorization of tools that already have green light for greater uses.
The blueberry in Ibero-America
The professor of Plant Nutrition at the Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaíso de Chile, Gonzalo Allendes Lagos, has made an X-ray of the cultivation of blueberries in Latin America, basically in Chile, Peru, Argentina and Colombia.
Allendes has underlined the strong increase in the size of blueberry cultivation in these countries and what is expected for the coming years. One of the most significant examples is that of Peru that has gone from 1.000 hectares to 3.000 in four years and that 2018 is expected to have 5.300. The high profitability of this product (40 $ / kilo at the beginning of the season and 20 $ / kilo in the worst case) is a strong incentive for Peruvian farmers. Chile is at the head of this Ibero-American sector on the surface with 15.559 hectares and Argentina with 3.000 follows; after Peru there are other producing countries such as Uruguay, Brazil or Colombia that fall behind a thousand hectares.
Most of the cranberry exports from these countries go to the US, where they arrive in 15 days and Europe, which take between 20 and 25 days, but the professor has pointed out that the main market objective is in China, although the aim is to guarantee the quality of the product. product you have to spend 40 days of travel by ship.
Source: Agrodiariohuelva.es
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