Peru has the ambition to dye the world blue with its fresh blueberries and make them the world's favorite fruit. Its goal is to open up new markets, with Indonesia being the next to open and receive Peru's blue gold, as it is about to start the 2023/2024 campaign with 18% more projected volumes and a 35% increase in organics.

The industry body Proarandanos, led by Luis Miguel Vegas, is not resting on its laurels with a series of new markets, both near and far, destined to absorb the increase in production and exports. This includes neighbors and other countries that are blueberry producers, but crucially without the long, almost year-round season that Peru currently has. This includes Argentina, Ecuador, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand. The Asian countries in its crosshairs are Indonesia, Vietnam, Japan and South Korea.

Proarandanos sees the ongoing Russian war in Ukraine, global inflation and global shipping costs negatively affecting consumption in Europe. He also says that the instability in Peru last season affected the agricultural sector in terms of lost wages and hundreds of millions of dollars in lost exports.

“Our industry provides 135.000 jobs, contributes to social programs, while also being responsible with our environmental and sustainability practices. We will reach the world through consumer promotion, genetic variety, reaching various markets, optimizing logistics and shipping from more ports, and working to improve inspection and phytosanitary services," says Miguel Vegas.

Service exports

The country's exports of services grew 48% (+USD 216 million) in the first four months of 2023, adding returns of USD 670 million, achieving its highest value since the record exists, with exports to 120 destinations led by the United States ( USD 205 million), Peru (USD 139 million), Colombia (USD 64 million), Switzerland (USD 23 million), United Kingdom (USD 22 million) and Spain (USD 18 million).

The main export categories recorded record shipments for a January-April period, highlighting "information technology", "consulting", "financial", "science, technology and R&D", "animation", "accounting" and " videogames” that registered their highest export value.

It is worth mentioning that 9 regions of the country increased their exports of goods and services (excluding copper, lithium and cellulose). The most outstanding increases were exhibited by the regions of Antofagasta (+USD 733 million), Metropolitana (+USD 653 million), O'Higgins (+USD 110 million), Tarapacá (+USD 77 million), Los Lagos (+USD 65 million ), Los Ríos (+USD 21 million), Atacama (+USD 15 million) and Arica and Parinacota (+USD 7 million).