Kazakhstan has entered the commercial blueberry market with its first large-scale plantation near Almaty. Fruit Art, a local company specializing in fruits like strawberries and apples, planted 240.000 blueberry bushes in 2024 on a 55-hectare plot. The farm expects to harvest more than 700 tons of blueberries annually once the plants reach full yield in 2027-2028.

"Blueberries are a complex crop in this region, but we've developed a formula for success," he said. Boris Sharipov, deputy director of Fruit Art. “We are currently the only producer growing blueberries on an industrial scale in Kazakhstan.”

Blueberries are grown in pots with a special substrate, not in open ground. The farm uses drip irrigation with pH-adjusted water and installs hail nets during the spring and summer. Due to the country's harsh winters, maintaining the plants during the cold remains a challenge. Mechanical harvesters will be used to collect the crop.

The company sees significant market potential. "Blueberries are hypoallergenic, popular in healthy diets, and have a longer shelf life than raspberries or blackberries," he added. Sharipov"Demand is growing both regionally and globally."

In 2021, the agricultural economist of the FAO, Andriy Yarmak, noted that blueberry cultivation could become a promising agribusiness in Central Asia, a prediction Kazakhstan now appears poised to fulfill.