On Wednesday, October 26, the first direct commercial flight to Europe with 75 tons of blueberries departed from the Benjamin Matienzo Airport in Tucuman, for London, where it would make a stopover before heading to Brussels, in a process that allows Argentinean producers to decrease costs, increase the fruits' quality, and shorten delivery times.

 

"This is like a dream: yesterday, producers from Tucuman harvested the blueberries and tomorrow these fruits will be on display for almost everyone," said the deputy governor, Osvaldo Jaldo.

 

This a test flight but expectations are that they will continue performing air shipments, as the price for sending their products direct to Europe decreases to $2.80 dollars per kilo and the blueberries reach their destination in 14 hours, which increases their quality. In comparison, shipping a kilo of fruit through the airplanes that make a stop in Miami costs $3.10 and the product reaches Europe in an average of 36 hours.

 

Last year, the country exported 150 tons of blueberries, which represented an income of nearly 70 million dollars. This year, producers expect to export some 5,000 tons of fresh fruit, considering that they have exported 3,500 tons between October last year and now.

 

"Currently, 25,000 to 30,000 people in Tucuman have jobs thanks to the production of this fruit," said Jaldo. He then added that thousands of families benefited each time these aircraft took off.

 

"Tucuman has become a major exporter of blueberries and the largest exporter of citrus worldwide. Additionally, governor Juan Manzur has undertaken the challenge of enabling more than 100 businessmen to travel to Chile to offer the province's exportable supply, including industrial products, there," he said. 

 

10/28/2016

Fresh Plaza / La Gaceta