In August, with the southern hemisphere blueberries entering the export peak, the export volume of blueberries in Peru continued to rise. According to agraria, the Peruvian Association of blueberry producers and exporters (proar á ndanos) predicts that Chile's blueberry exports will reach 200000 tons from August to December 2021, a year-on-year increase of 20%.
With the increase of investment in Peru's blueberry industry in recent years, Peru's blueberry export has maintained rapid growth, and Peru has become the world's largest blueberry exporter. In the 2020 / 21 production season (June 2020 February 2021), Peru exported about 163000 tons of blueberries, a year-on-year increase of 36%. Among them, 159000 tons of fresh blueberries, with an export volume of more than 939 million US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 34.75%, setting a new record.
From the perspective of exporting countries, the United States is the largest exporter of blueberries from Peru. 50% of blueberries are shipped to the United States. The Netherlands and China rank second and third respectively. In the 2020/21 season, Peru’s blueberry exports to the United States, the Netherlands and China accounted for 52% (80,000 tons), 27% (40,000 tons) and 11% (15,000 tons) of the total exports respectively. Among them, 9,200 tons are exported to mainland China and 5,800 tons are exported to Hong Kong.
In terms of variety, Peru has 46 blueberry varieties in 2020, of which Biloxi and Ventura are the dominant ones. Compared to 2016, there were only 13 blueberry varieties in Peru.
From the price point of view, Proarándanos predicts that blueberry exports this season may not increase significantly with the increase in exports. Peruvian blueberries mainly compete with Mexico and American blueberries in the United States. With the increase in global and Mexican production, the price of Peruvian blueberries may decrease.