Berries in Charts: A pricing snapshot of the four categories

In this week’s edition of ‘In Charts’, we’re going to take a look at how the average prices the main four berry categories have been behaving in the U.S. market.

Blueberries

Kicking off with blueberries, which at the beginning of 2020 were seeing some of the lowest prices in year, we can observe that the category has experienced a strong recovery over recent weeks.

In week 9, the average price of conventional blueberries was US$8.31 per kilo, which is 94% higher than in 2019. Prices of fruit from Mexico, the other supplier at this time, are even higher at US$9.36 per kilo.

Raspberries

Raspberries have also experienced an uptick in pricing over the last few weeks.

As can be seen below, in week 9 the average price was US$10.78 per kilo, putting it 16% up on last year and the highest of all the berries. Mexico is the only supplier at present in the U.S. market.

Strawberries

Conversely to the previous two categories, strawberries have experienced declining prices over the last six weeks.

The average price in week 9 was US$2.71 per kilo – 11% lower than 2019 and the lowest of the four berries. Volumes in the market originate in California, Florida and Mexico, and the former is fetching significantly higher prices (US$3.47 per kilo) than the other two.

Blackberries

Finally, blackberry prices were recently at their lowest level in years, been they’ve been rising since week 6.

In week 9 they were at US$4.54 per kilo, 9% lower than last year. Volumes in the U.S. market are from Mexico and Central America, with the latter origin fetching the best prices (US$5.64 per kilo).

Written by: Cristian Crespo
Original published in FreshFruitPortal.com on March 10, 2020 (Link)