Blueberry prices in the US have reportedly fallen by 30-50 per cent in comparison to last season causing headaches for South American exporters who are achieving just US$2.5-US$3 per kilogramme of fruit.
“There has been large-scale investment in Chile, and a lot of blueberries have been planted in Argentina and Chile, so now there is an abundance of fruit which when demand is inelastic means prices fall,” Luis Schmidt, president of the Chilean National Society of Agriculture (SNA), told Chilean daily Diario Financiero.
US demand, meanwhile, has fallen during the recession since blueberries are generally more expensive than other fruits. The domestic blueberry crop was also larger than last season, causing a high volume of stocks on the market during the same period.
Chilean exports alone are expected to increase by 25 per cent to 38,000 tonnes in 2008/09, according to figures compiled by the Chilean Fruit Market Intelligence System (Simfruit – a Chilean organisation created by Asoex, Fedefruta and Decofrut).
Argentina is also estimated to boost its blueberry exports to the US by an impressive 198 per cent compared with 2007/08, according to Simfruit.
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