In this installment of the ‘Agronometrics In Charts’ series, Sarah Ilyas studies the state of the Chilean blueberries this season. Each week the series looks at a different horticultural commodity, focusing on a specific origin or topic visualizing the market factors that are driving change.
The bulk of blueberry production in Chile starts in November and lasts until March the following year. The Chilean Blueberry Committee is projecting that shipments this season will reach over 98,000 tons for 2022-2023, a 8% decrease compared to the previous season.
This has resulted primarily from the Chilean blueberry industry’s intense focus on providing only the best quality blueberries to its export markets, according to the committee. Some varieties are being adapted for frozen exports and other industrial purposes as part of the industry's comprehensive variety renewal.
Growers are simultaneously planting new types with improved post-harvest conditions that will allow the fruit to arrive with the characteristic flavor and sweetness of Chilean blueberries.
Capricious weather since the beginning of the season has been impacting some of the varieties.
Source: USDA Market News via Agronometrics.
(Agronometrics users can view this chart with live updates here)
Source: USDA Market News via Agronometrics.
(Agronometrics users can view this chart with live updates here)
The peak in demand coincides with the peak in Chilean blueberry supplies. The harvest of Chilean blueberries is anticipated to last until early February, with all shipments expected to be completed by early March. "I think it is necessary to reinforce promotions.
When Chile created the Blueberry Committee, one of its main tasks was to generate demand for our exports and we have made a promotional effort that has allowed us to diversify and increase demand," says Andrés Armstrong, executive director for the entity.
Prices will likely be governed by quality as the supply of Chilean blueberries continues to increase in the next few weeks and the volume of Peruvian blueberries in the market decreases.
In our ‘In Charts’ series, we work to tell some of the stories that are moving the industry. Feel free to take a look at the other articles by clicking here.
All pricing for domestic US produce represents the spot market at Shipping Point (i.e. packing house/climate controlled warehouse, etc.). For imported fruit, the pricing data represents the spot market at Port of Entry.
You can keep track of the markets daily through Agronometrics, a data visualization tool built to help the industry make sense of the huge amounts of data that professionals need to access to make informed decisions. If you found the information and the charts from this article useful, feel free to visit us at www.agronometrics.com where you can easily access these same graphs, or explore the other 21 commodities we currently track.
24/01/2023
