Peru will become the largest exporter of blueberries

In this campaign (August – March) or the following year, Peru could become the largest exporter of blueberries worldwide, above Chile, which currently occupies this place, projects the president of the Association of Blueberry Producers from Peru (Proarándanos), Roberto Vargas.

According to the guild’s estimates, in the current campaign Peruvian shipments would grow 35%, compared to the previous one, which would amount to approximately 100,000 or 105,000 tons. This volume would be equivalent to US $ 650 or US $ 750 million in shipments, depending on market conditions.

“There are hectares that enter their second or third season and new projects entering production,” Vargas told Gestion.pe, in addition to specifying that in the campaign of the previous year about 6,800 hectares of crops of this fruit were registered in the country and There are currently 8,000 hectares, which shows a growth of about 18% in these extensions.

In 2018, Chile exported 114,000 tons of blueberries, which represented a growth of 29.4% compared to its shipments from the previous year, according to information from the Chilean Government. Although Peru exported 78,700 tons, it reflected a growth rate of 83%, much higher than that of Chile.

“If not in this campaign, in the next one, Peru should be the largest exporter of fresh blueberries worldwide,” Vargas said.

On the other hand, the union leader said that although Colombia does not have much production of this fruit, so it does not constitute a direct competition for Peru, it is not ruled out that it becomes a reality of the plans recently announced by the Colombian government , to boost their shipments to be among the top 10 exporting countries of this fruit.

Vargas also estimated the opening of the Indian and Taiwan markets for Peruvian blueberry shipments within a maximum period of one year or a year and a half; and in two or three years the opening of the markets of Korea and Japan.

The top 10 blueberry export companies in the country in 2018 were these, according to Promperú: