Blueberries See Decline in Availability for the First Time in Ten Years

In the past decade, the blueberry industry has undergone a remarkable transformation in terms of its popularity and growing region expansion. It has shifted from being predominantly North American-focused just a few years ago, to now becoming a global industry.

David Magana, a senior analyst covering fruits and nuts for Rabobank’s Rabo Research says the 2023/2024 season will be the first year in recent history to see a significant decline in exports from the leading blueberry grower in the world, Peru. Thanks to an El Nino bringing a warmer winter and delayed harvest, Magana says that in some places, the country saw a 60 to 70 percent drop in yields.

“Now with all these struggles, we are likely to see lower availability of blueberries compared to what we observe this time last year. That will likely continue as Chile, which is now starting to ramp up harvest. It will be also down year on year as they also have been struggling with increasing overlap with the Peruvian season, and some of the operators have been transitioning more into the frozen markets”