Centra Blue is a new selection of New Zealand origin, from Plant and Food Research, which can be found in Multibaies nurseries. It is adapted to French edaphoclimatic conditions, it generally bears berries from the end of August, a period that coincides with the end of Polish production, until mid-October. “The particularity of this variety is that it is very late. There is no place in the world where a variety is so late. And, in a context where the world of red fruits is relatively speculative, there is always an interest in producing sooner or later than others. Centra Blue represents a real business opportunity for independent growers and has the great advantage of being a freely spread variety”, explains Mathieu Billotte, director of the Multibaies company.

For this very late variety with large fruits and good keeping quality, France seems to be a particularly interesting production area: "The most pertinent thing to plant a variety like Centra Blue is to do it in late areas in order to get the greatest advantages, commercially. talking. In terms of temperatures, the north of Portugal and Spain are adequate, but there are restrictions regarding significant rainfall. On the other hand, France, in the southern part up to Anjou, is a very good candidate”, explains Mathieu.

In addition, the variety will benefit from the EU certification from 2022. This two-part certification is based on EPPO (European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organization) standards, which implies, on the one hand, health guarantees and, on the other, varietal conformity. .

"Retailers are demanding more and more blueberries from France"

80% of the production of Multibaies seedlings is destined for export, especially to Spain, Morocco, Portugal, Serbia, Romania, Turkey and Georgia. Despite the fact that the consumption of blueberries in France is mainly oriented towards foreign origins, the situation is going to evolve. “The consumption of blueberries in the country increases every year. In addition, there is a shortage of blueberries originating in France on the French market. But the great distribution demands more and more, inducing like this to changes in the base of the sector”.
The Centra Blue variety

About Multibaies
Multibaies is one of the few European historical agents specialized in blueberry planting. “What differentiates us from our competition is the total mastery of our experience in the production and in the multiplication process vitro“explains Mathieu.

The nursery, which produces around a million seedlings a year, targets three types of clients: garden centres, independent fruit growers who have access to a catalog of freely distributed varieties, such as Centra Blue, and key players. from the sector that owns genetics. “On the subject of fruit production, there is a very broad trend towards vertical integration, in other words, towards the development of club varieties. The business model is based on intellectual property, the biggest fear of these clients is losing control of the variety. This is the reason why they need trusted nurserymen, such as Multibaies, to whom they can trust their production, since, in general, the multiplier low cost usually high risk regarding intellectual property”, concludes Mathieu.