Francisco Sánchez, manager of Onubafruit:

“We will produce blueberries so early and with such good yields that imports from the southern hemisphere could drastically decrease”

Transportation increasingly complicates exports of perishable goods. What if Europe could depend on its own varieties throughout the year? In addition, the production of blueberries has grown strongly worldwide in recent years and is expected to continue to do so in the coming years, which will cause prices to continue to adjust downwards. Producing more at lower cost could be key to achieving a profitable product. It's possible? Will they be ready to do it?

"I think there will be a significant oversupply of blueberries in the coming years. Many farmers and large producers decided to grow blueberries, which are a relatively easy product to produce, in the hope of obtaining the economic profitability of recent years," says Francisco Sánchez, manager of Onubafruit.

“The number of hectares planted with blueberries has increased significantly in Huelva, Morocco, Peru, Chile, South Africa, Poland and other places. Thus, the offer will grow without stopping, far beyond the increase in demand. Last year, the campaign in Spain was good because there was a 20% decrease in supply, but the reality is that the number of new plantations is impressive, we are talking about a superfood that, in addition to being healthy, is tasty and to the liking of almost all the world. Consumption will go up but prices will go down in the coming years as production increases,” he added.

According to Francisco Sánchez, in addition to the scarcity of water resources and labor in Huelva, the import of blueberries from the southern hemisphere will be seriously hampered by transport problems. “For more than two years, the income of countries that ship their products by ship has been greatly affected. In addition to becoming more expensive, there is a lot of uncertainty about when your goods will arrive at their destination, which means there is increasing risk for perishable goods. Distributors want to know when their products will arrive and if they will arrive safely.”

The second-tier cooperative Onubafruit will continue to grow in the cultivation of blueberries, although it will carry out a radical varietal reconversion. "We anticipated this scenario a long time ago, which is why we have been investing in research and development and have come up with five new varieties that we believe will revolutionize the market and change the rules of the game," says Francisco Sánchez.

The Onubrafruit manager highlighted the earliest of these varieties, which will be harvested much earlier than any other blueberry variety in Huelva. “The earliest variety in Huelva so far is the Snowchaser variety, which has been harvested since the end of February. Now we have a variety that is harvested from the end of November. Peruvian production enters Europe from the end of October to January, while Chile and South Africa arrive in large quantities from January to March. We will be able to produce so early and with such good yields per square meter that imports from the southern hemisphere could drop dramatically in the coming years."

“We believe that the next varieties are going to change the market in such a way that what is planted today may be drastically different in 5 years. The key is to market larger quantities, not at the prices reached in recent years -because it is a utopia-, but at profitable prices according to the investment. Few people can say that it is possible to produce more while spending less, but we can already say so”, affirms Francisco Sánchez.

"The results of the tests of these varieties have been quite good, so we hope to start marketing the new blueberries at the end of this year, in the 2022/2023 campaign," says the manager of Onubafruit.

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