North American blueberry production will grow an 25% in four years
The Highbush Cranberry Council of the United States (USHBC), projected that the North American production grow a quarter in the next four years and reach the 426.000 metric tons of blueberries.
The director of the association has also given a positive seasonal outlook and exports are expected to increase in the coming years as new markets will be accessed.
This year's volumes in North America are projected to reach 750 million pounds (340 thousand TM), with a world production of blueberries that is expected to exceed 1.4 million pounds.
Retail sales of fresh blueberries in the US increased 7% year-on-year to reach USD 1.5 billion in 2015, while frozen sales grew 4% to USD 190 million.
USHBC Executive Director Marcos Villata said that the demand in the US He must be able to keep up with the offer in the coming years.
"We have seen strong growth over the last few years, there is no reason to think that growth will not continue", Dijo.
"If you look at the annual per capita consumption of the United States. At this time it is approximately 45 ounces per person, so I think we have much more room to grow ".
In North America the consumption of blueberries per capita grew almost an 50% between 2010-2015.
New markets on the horizon
Currently only the 10% of the total highbush crop in the US it is exported annually, but Villata said that with the promotion programs abroad and with the new markets that can be opened soon, this figure is expected to grow.
"We are putting more programs to try to increase consumption abroad. We are doing work in places like Japan, Taiwan, India and South Korea ".
"We are also working on trying to open markets that currently do not allow US imports of fresh blueberries, particularly in China, the Philippines, Vietnam, New Zealand and Australia.", Adding that "We are in the process of trying to promote access to markets, then, once we have them, the amount of product that goes to the high seas will increase considerably.".
He noted that Vietnam seems to be the next market to open, while access to China may be only a couple of years away.
Seasonal perspectives
With regard to this current season, Villata said that in general the crop seemed to be arriving in times similar to those of last year, with small variations in production year after year in certain regions.
He indicated that there was an accumulation of frozen blueberries, which could be a concern, but there were no problems in the fresh sector.
Source: Fruit Portal
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