In the 2023/2024 campaign, Peru exported 222,000 tons of fresh blueberries, showing a decrease of 22 percent compared to the 286,000 tons shipped in the previous campaign, the president of the consulting firm Inform@cción, Fernando Cillóniz Benavides, told Agraria.
Cillóniz highlighted that the drop was due to the presence of climatic phenomena such as Cyclone Yaku (which affected crops in March and April 2023) and generated a lot of damage in the regions from the north coast such as Piura, Lambayeque and La Libertad, main blueberry producing regions in our country. Added to this was the hot winter recorded that affected the flowering of blueberries (and other crops).
He highlighted that, despite this drop in volumes shipped, Peru continues to be the world leader in blueberry exports, thanks to the significant growth recorded in previous campaigns.
Cillóniz added that given the current normalization of the climate, blueberry production will grow again in the 2024-2025 campaign that is about to begin, so Peru will consolidate its leadership in the world blueberry market.
“Peru is viewed with great interest from all over the world, and we are truly a fruit exporting power worldwide. The blueberry is one more success story of the many that we have been discussing. We have enormous potential not only in blueberries but for many other crops and that is what we will go towards,” Cillóniz said.
It should be noted that in January 2024, Peruvian blueberry exports reached $212 million, almost tripling the figure reported in January 2023 ($72 million), according to data from the company ‘Fluctuante’.
In the first month of the year, the companies exporting Peruvian blueberries were Camposol, with 23 percent; Hortifrut, with 13 percent; and Agrovision, with 6 percent.
