Romania: MerryBerry responds to the changing environment

The Romanian blueberry specialist is reacting to changes in the weather as well as the challenge of soaring costs, but its commitment to organic has not diminished, according to sales director Radu Niculescu.

01/11/2022

Parts of Europe experienced record temperatures this year. How has production been affected by the weather in Romania? Is the weather becoming more of a factor?

Radu Niculescu: The MerryBerry farm is located in the southern part of Romania, and this year we had a rainy period in June with moderate temperatures, which delayed the start of the harvest season by 7-10 days. In July we had extremely hot weather, which caused several varieties to ripen in a short period of time.

In Romania, the weather plays an important role, and the changes in recent years have encouraged us to make strategic decisions to protect ourselves from extreme events. For the next few years, we have several projects planned to cover our plantations with high tunnels, so that we can extend the harvest season to four months, from the beginning of June to the end of September.

How is production at MerryBerry? Is production still increasing overall?

RN: Blueberry production at MerryBerry increased by 20% between 2021 and 2022. This trend will continue until 2024/25, when we expect production to reach around 1500 tons.

Have you made any recent investments in your facilities?

RN: In 2020 we finished the construction of the MerryBerry refrigerated warehouse. Located in the middle of the plantation, it allows us to obtain the shortest transit time from collection to processing of no more than 15 minutes. The warehouse has a total area of 2.500m ² , three pre-cooling chambers and five refrigerated chambers with controlled atmosphere and represents an investment of more than 3 million euros. The warehouse has fully demonstrated its usefulness, allowing us to process and capitalize on all harvested production.

In 2021, we continue with the investment plan and install the first computerized sorting and packaging line in Romania. It has 16 bands and allows the identification of internal and external defects, each fruit being rotated and carefully analyzed. Along with the sorter, we installed an automatic palletizing system, a tray sealer, a destacker, an automatic metal detector and a checkweigher. This investment exceeded 2 million euros.

In 2022, we installed the last piece of sorting line equipment, consisting of an automatic tipping machine and a separate feeder to fill baskets. All these investments have allowed us to achieve the highest quality standards requested by our customers.

How are the rising costs of energy, materials, and transportation affecting the company?

RN: One of the most pressing problems is the rising costs of energy, materials, and transportation. On our farm we analyze the situation and make the best decisions to reduce consumption both internally, optimizing flows, and externally, negotiating fixed rates during the season. But it is very difficult to unilaterally absorb increases in the cost of electricity, natural gas and diesel of 300, 250 and 85 percent. Packaging costs have doubled. The margins we operate on are small and can only partially cover cost increases.

The situation also remains challenging for the 2023 season, especially as all these cost increases show no signs of recovery.

With cold storage more expensive, is there a desire for growers to sell faster?

RN: Yes. Fresh fruit represents more than 95 percent of our volumes sold. We had been planning to develop more frozen products, with significant investments in the IQF tunnel freezer, but changes in the cost structure led us to postpone these plans.

How are your main markets currently behaving, including the domestic market?

RN: Currently, the Romanian market is growing at a fast pace and we are helping to educate Romanian consumers. Although the volumes achieved are still small compared to mature markets, the prospects are good. In our case, we have increased our volumes to EU countries due to lower transport costs and minimal paperwork. However, the United Kingdom continues to represent the main market for our blueberries.

Is labor availability an issue?

RN: The workforce represents a great challenge. We had the advantage of working with workers who have a lot of experience on farms in Spain, Italy, Holland, Germany or the United Kingdom. They became team leaders and trained other pickers on our farm. The Romanian government has initiated a set of measures through which it wants to make the agricultural labor market attractive. As of June 2022, the value of the minimum wage in agriculture and the food industry increased by 32%. Income tax reductions were also applied.

This year we used workers from Asia for the first time in a pilot project. The integration was good, as were the results obtained. I think we will continue with this project next year.

Are you continuing with your sustainability efforts despite all the challenges?

RN: Sustainability is in our DNA. The management made the decision that the entire area will go organic within the next three years, a brave decision but one that reflects our philosophy towards the environment and a healthy lifestyle.

Since 2021 we have managed to exclusively use 100% rPET baskets. This year we use cardboard packaging, whose share will increase substantially in the next two years. We have created green borders around the plantation and next year we will invest in a photovoltaic system. This will help us reduce our electricity costs while using green energy as much as possible. Sustainability is the direction we are following, but the measures must be aligned with reality. It must be done carefully so that the necessary investments during the transition period can be accepted by the consumer. We are confident that we will succeed.