Cort Brazelton of Fall Creek Farm & Nursery.
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In order to draw the trendlines, Cort first took a look to the past, going back to the early 1900's, when blueberry cultivation was first introduced in New Jersey. To be precise, it has been a hundred years since blueberry cultivation in the area started. It was Elizabeth White and Dr Frederick V. Coville who worked early in the last century to cultivate blueberries. "Every blueberry that we grow nowadays is a descendant from these first ones," explained the American proudly.
Peak and fall in production
The strong growth registered in the berry's production volume in recent years has been mainly due to growth in Europe, Latin America and Asia. In Europe, the total blueberry volume harvested between 2010 and 2014 has doubled. In Latin America, this was achieved in just two years, between 2010 and 2012; thereafter, the volume has remained stable. In Asia, however, growth has not stopped and between 2010 and 2014 growers have managed to increase their production by about 10,000 tonnes every two years, going from 10,200 tonnes in 2010 to 37,400 tonnes in 2014. About two-thirds of the global production is marketed fresh. The remaining 33 percent is processed.
Cort Brazelton of Fall Creek Farm & Nursery.
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Another interesting piece of information: the peak in the global production volume is reached in the months of July and August. If the U.S. was not taken into account for these statistics, the shape of the graph turns and July and August are the months with the lowest production. That underscores the U.S. leadership in this market. In 2014, the country produced 330,000 tonnes of blueberries, which is almost three times more than the entire South American production, which amounted to 121,000 tonnes.
Tropical blueberries
However, according to Cort, most production estimates for the future seem too optimistic. With a conservative estimate, he predicted that production will probably stand at around 860,000 tonnes in 2019 and at 1.4 million tonnes in 2024. Despite this growth, there are potential risks for the sector.
American growers, for example, are struggling with oversupply during the months of May, June and July. That, according to Cort, can only lead to bankruptcies. As regards production, new blueberry varieties from the tropics will hit the market. New production countries will be located around the equator. In addition to Peru, Indonesia and some countries in Africa will be supplying blueberries to the market.
Matteusz Pilch (Berry Group), Andrés Armstron (Chilean Blueberry Committee) and Cort Brazelton (Fall Creek Farm & Nursery).
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Uprooting and planting
During the panel discussion, Andrés Armstrong pointed out how necessary it is to export only the good quality berries. Chilean blueberry shipments to China are on the rise. The cold chain management in China could be better, but the techniques to improve this to a higher level are available, stated Andrés.
"We should not only keep ourselves busy with new varieties and new developments; we must also consider what to do with the old plantings," said Cort. Matteusz Pilch, of the Polish cooperative Berry Group, said that in Poland this is not an issue. "The old plants are uprooted and new ones take their place," explained the Pole. "That's daring," responds Cort. He believes that U.S. growers are not so easy-going when it comes to the uprooting of existing fields.
Already published about the Global Berry Congress 2016:
16-3 End of blueberry market growth not yet in sight