Biobio expects a decrease in its blueberry harvest

Overview of blueberries from Chile in the U.S. market, complemented by charts from Agronometrics. Original published on December 4, 2023.

Biobio’s blueberry harvest season has begun with a nearly one-week delay because the ripening of the fruits has been delayed by the temperatures. We expect good calibers, stated Francisco Novales, president of the Association of Berry Producers of Biobío AG. However, he added, “It’s possible that, as some days the temperature reaches 30 degrees or more, there will be a concentration of crops or an overlap of varieties that usually don’t overlap.”

“Exports will decrease by around 13% over the previous season because of the frost and hail that caused localized damage throughout Chile.” The decrease rises to around 35% when compared to the almost 118,000 tons of fresh blueberries exported in the 2020-2021 season, he added.

Source: USDA Market News via Agronometrics.
(Agronometrics users can view this chart with live updates here)

“According to estimates, we’ll export some 76,500 tons of fresh blueberries this season and some 40 to 50,000 tons will be destined for the frozen food market,” he said.

“As always, our main fear for the harvest season is being affected by intense rains or extremely high temperatures. We can defend ourselves against the rains with some health-friendly products, but there’s not much we can do against very high temperatures,” the president of Aproberries Biobio said.

Fortunately, forecasts are the high temperatures will take place from the second week of January 2024, “where almost 90% of the Biobio fruit will already be harvested,” he said.

The News in Charts is a collection of stories from the industry complemented by charts from Agronometrics to help better tell their story.

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