The global blueberry industry is looking to China and the phenomenon that is occurring with blueberry production in that country. The advance of the Chinese industry could totally change the market and marketing opportunities for blueberries in the world, mainly for the fruit from the southern hemisphere, although it would affect exports from any other region.

The rapid growth of blueberry production in China challenges competitors exporting to that market, mainly Peru and Chile, among others. Comparative advantages tend to disappear, as do windows of opportunity, because Chinese production is very varied, since it is developed in different geographic and climatic realities, so they can produce fruit earlier, lengthening the season, thereby impacting shipments from the southern hemisphere.

Chinese advantages

Blueberries are currently in increasing demand as fresh and healthy fruit, which is why consumers prefer them the closer they are produced to the markets. This is the case with Chinese fruit and the Asian market.

From this perspective, the Chinese industry has unlimited capabilities as a consistent supplier, both due to its private management and its permanent state support, being able to extend its planted surface area without limits and considerably increase the volume of fruit, leading it to completely satisfy its internal consumption and can even be a great competitor as an exporter of blueberries to other markets.

The blueberry industry in China has become more organized and professional, adopting the latest in technology and knowledge, as well as introducing improved varieties resulting from the extraordinary advance of new plant genetics, while gradually respecting property and legal frameworks. All these elements put it on the path to becoming a sustainable, reliable and competitive industry.

challenges and threats

Producers and exporters in the southern hemisphere are paying close attention to what is happening with the blueberry industry in China. This is especially true in the case of Peru, which has had an extraordinary development, with a successful varietal replacement that has allowed it to break into the markets with a fruit of excellent quality, preferred by consumers.

Some analysts argue that China could experience a development very similar to that of Peru, since it also has regions with the climatic advantage to produce and market fruit in the first year, which gives it an extraordinary advantage when it comes to varietal replacement.

On the other hand, if the Chinese industry advances in the development of post-harvest technology and knowledge, it would allow it to store its fruit and considerably extend its supply over time.

Meeting and monitoring

For the Peruvian and Chilean industry, this reality becomes a major challenge, which is why market diversification, differentiation of supply, quality, consistency and any aspect that increases competitiveness becomes an urgent objective.

Monitoring this reality and its different scopes for the industry in the southern hemisphere, especially the Peruvian one, will probably be analyzed and discussed at the meeting that the blueberry industry will hold in Lima next March, when the XXXIV International Blueberry Seminar at the Lima Convention Center on March 12 and 13.

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