The Chilean blueberry Committee of the association of Chilean fruit exporters (asoex) reported that the Chilean blueberry industry is ready for the upcoming shipment peak. According to the forecasts of iqonsulting, an agricultural product industry consulting company, and the Chilean blueberry Commission, the output of blueberries in Chile is expected to reach 178000 tons this quarter, of which 117000 tons of fresh blueberries are used for export, the same as the previous quarter.
The Chilean blueberry Commission said that due to the renewal of new plantations and blueberry varieties, fresh blueberries for export will face stricter screening, and many of the output will be processed into frozen products for export or supplied to the Chilean domestic market. In addition, new varieties of blueberries have accounted for 25% of Chile's total production, and many plantations are in the stage of production growth.
Chile's organic blueberry production will also increase this season, which is expected to account for 18% of fresh blueberries and 27% of frozen blueberry products.
The main problems faced by Chilean blueberry exports are drought, shortage of labor and containers, long transportation time and delays of refrigerated ships in ports around the world. The Chilean blueberry Commission said that thanks to the efficient irrigation system of producers, drought is the least affected of all problems, and the biggest problems are manpower and port logistics. It is estimated that due to the lack of labor, the harvest of fresh blueberries may be reduced by 7% (included in the forecast data), and the production of frozen blueberry products will increase by 10% compared with the previous quarter.