Peru’s blueberry exports are expected to increase by 30 percent this season for a total of 287,00 tons with the U.S. being their main destination, the general manager of Proarandanos, Luis Miguel Vegas, told Agraria.
“53 percent have been sent to the U.S., 31 percent to Europe, 13 percent to China, and 2 percent to other places, with a total of 33 destinations” Vegas says.
While blueberry plantations have been growing at an average of 3,000 hectares per year, in the last year it only increased by 1,600 hectares, but with greater varietal development. In 2016, Peru had 13 varieties, and now it has more than 60 registered varieties.
Vegas pointed out that, in the timeframe of the stoppages that occurred throughout last year, more than 2,000 tons of this fruit were affected. He explained that, while in some cases they were completely lost. In others they were dispatched in a longer period of time, resulting not only in a lower quality of the product, but also in a drop in prices.
“There were approximately 150 containers that were damaged last year due to different events, but not so much due to the protests in December, because the most important seasonality of the campaign occurs between September and October, when almost 50 percent of the total exported is shipped” he stated.
