Demand is high right now for blueberries while supplies are currently on the lighter side.
“Supplies of blueberries have been a little tight out of South America but the shipments are starting to increase now. They’re out of Chile right now,” says Greg Willems of Reedley, Ca.-based Farm to Table Berries, who also notes that the quality of berries has been up this year. “They’re tight because it’s been a shorter crop and the demand has been high. The Chile season will probably run until March.”
That makes for a solid market of course. “The market has been the highest it’s been in six years. I think demand is up because people are eating more and more blueberries every year. Blueberries are mainly a commodity in the store now like bananas or anything else,” says Willems. Altogether that’s created a more mature market for blueberries.
Prices pushed up
High prices are more stable because demand is so much higher. “So there’s more movement in the stores than there used to be,” Willems says. “A lot of the major retailers are promoting blueberries more than they used to.”
Looking ahead though
, prices have started to drop for blueberries.
