The first blueberries from our own cultivation from Portugal arrived at Carsol Europe in Maasdijk, Netherlands. “In addition to our own cultivation in Peru and Chile, it is the first harvest of our own cultivation company in Portugal,” says Horacio Ozer Ami, from the European sales office in Maasdijk.

In Portugal, CarSol has its own 75 hectare farm with conventional blueberries, complemented by an organic farm in a higher part of the country with an area of ​​125 hectares of organic berries. The entire range consists of new varieties. Portuguese berries are available at CarSol Europe until the end of July. «I am proud of the Portuguese team that managed to grow these high-quality blueberries. The quality is good, the flavor is sweet and the dimensions are excellent.

In addition to Portuguese blueberries, CarSol currently also offers Spanish blueberries. «These countries have good production, in line with last year. Transportation and finding enough pickers is currently a challenge,” says Horacio. “In the first weeks after the Corona measures were put in place, we saw a drop in blueberry sales, the situation is now stabilizing and with the good weather we hope that there will be good demand for blueberries again.”

Last year, CarSol ordered a new optical sorting machine, which Horacio said fills a need. “Our customers work directly with the source, but at the same time retain the flexibility that many retailers need locally. Our customers can easily change contents per pack, place and receive orders on a daily level and fruit that has been sorted up to 24 hours before loading with our optical sorting machine.”