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Global Highbush Fresh
Report Team Narrative

While Fresh Highbush figures are extensively covered in the different subregions and individual country sections. This space gives us the opportunity to explore general global trends not otherwise covered in the report.

Based on the data collected for the 2021 report the production of fresh blueberries rose by 21% breaking the 1,000 (000) MT mark for the first time in history.

Interestingly we see that every subregion saw an increase in production compared to the previous year. This indicator speaks to the increasing relevance of the blueberry category within fresh produce isles the world over. Further illustrating the continued vitality of the industry, North America, the native home of highbush blueberries, and one of the most established growing regions, continues to see strong growth adding 26 (000) MT over the last season, mostly from increases in yield, which points to replantings with new varieties and updated growing systems in core growing areas.

China and Peru stand out as the countries adding the most volume of fresh blueberries. The Peruvian data is provided from industry sources highly engaged with growing and exporting companies in the sector (the Industry Guild). The Chinese data sources are less concrete and we acknowledge the possibility that the actual hectares and production figures may indeed be lower. All the while there are exciting newer growing regions in Africa and India looking to bring blueberries to new consumers in the years to come.

Blueberries are one of the most exciting and fastest growing produce categories. Thousands of people in this industry steadily work year after year to paint the map of the blueberry world. Many thanks to all the contributors to the data presented in this report, your continued support helps serve a more informed industry seeking to develop a sustainable industry for producers and ever better experience and access to consumers.

Global Wild Production
Report Team Narrative

Global Highbush Processed
Report Team Narrative

While processed volume and market growth may have slowed somewhat since 2020 when consumers globally – from the U.S. to South Korea to Australia - hoarded frozen fruit in response to covid, the sector’s situation is still far more robust than before the pandemic when the processed industry had been enduring years of marginal growth and commoditization.

In May 2022 the level of frozen blueberry inventories in Public Storage in the United States - the category’s largest market - were up by around 3%, partly reflecting the year-on-year frozen sales decline in volume (-6.5%, tied to a decrease in North American frozen crop diversion) and value (-4.4%) reported by the U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council (USHBC) for 2021. Another driver may be what one industry veteran described as “the largest ever volume diverted on arrival” from South American fresh blueberries to the processed market. Shipping delays from South America put the quality of imports under pressure in 2021/22, at times leaving processing as the only option apart from wastage for some containers.

The ongoing opacity of global and national frozen inventories and grade transparency plays a perennial role in undermining market stability. With what is effectively a 24-month marketing cycle and a tendency for fruit to suddenly appear from “under a snowbank” (a large portion of the crop remains in private storage which is not reported publicly), inventory and pricing mechanisms for the frozen market can be challenging to track, especially as freezer reports don’t necessarily reflect the grade of the fruit. To illustrate, what can occur are reports of large inventories (e.g. the Public Cold Storage report, which reports volumes in public storage and includes fruit that is sold but not shipped) while packers are in fact struggling to source A-grade frozen blueberries. Despite the ample stock available on paper, there are still shortages of A Grade IQF polybag blueberries at retail in North America.

The relative improvement in the sector’s performance on 2019 levels however cannot be overstated, with the figures in 2021 demonstrating major double-digit growth over the two-year period in value and volume, perhaps also buoyed by speculation over greater losses than what eventuated following the heat dome in the Pacific Northwest. As referenced in the British Columbia section of this report, there were even moments when processed prices were higher than fresh.

Prior to the pandemic, observers had noted a divergence from the previous interlinkages between the fresh and processed blueberry sectors, but since 2020 it appears more of an equilibrium has returned after years of processed-oriented growers exiting the industry. Growers have the option of diverting to processed, both fresh byproduct and higher grade field product, processing plays a useful role in absorbing volumes – a critical channel as fresh blueberry plantings expand globally and the existence of fields with less desired varieties. This is particularly the case for high chill growers. Longer established plantings struggling to serve the fresh market are increasingly diverted to processed. The scaling of processed blueberries is working to the benefit of food manufacturers, juicers, and consumers who either have lower budgets or whose purchasing preferences are driven primarily by the berry’s high antioxidant content.

In regions such as the Pacific Northwest, growing, harvesting, and packing blueberries strictly for processed is also a competitive business model due to the high yields and mechanization of the systems in the region. Most harvesting for processed is already done by machine with sophisticated infrastructure established in mature industries where vertical integration and economies of scale are key; a business model that has risen in tandem with the fresh industry.

The IQF (individually quick frozen) market remains the primary target at the higher end of the processed market. This marks very little change over the last two decades with limited innovation on the product side among the growing, packing, and first handler side of the business. While there are exceptions, the majority of the value creation in processed blueberries is done by CPG companies (small and large) with the packing industry filling the role of an input supplier or at best a vendor of IQF polybags to retail. No doubt there is room for further downstream integration in the industry. Examples of this happening today include growing and packing companies introducing new dried and infused products as well as some new ‘fresh like’ ready-to-eat (RTE) products. Looking to the future it is not unreasonable to assume that there will be a substantial opportunity to create new uses for the market. The question remains as to whether this innovation can also be led by organizations which actually have established supply chains close to the raw product.

Industry efforts to boost consumption of processed blueberries are a key piece of the puzzle for lifting demand and returns for growers. As the product is less difficult to ship than highly perishable fresh blueberries, export market development is a logical pathway to lifting demand, but there is also a need to push more food manufacturing channels within categories such as baking, confectionery, smoothies and yogurts. To be effective, large-scale incorporation is required for this strategy to have a real impact as often a finished food such as a muffin or a protein bar has a very low gram-count of blueberries. What is also problematic is that whilst the fresh market is increasingly seeking out larger-sized berries, some food manufacturers such as bakers tend to seek out smaller-sized frozen blueberries, leaving less margin of error for fresh-oriented growers that shift to larger cultivars.

One sub-division of the processing industry that has struggled the most is juice-grade concentrate, for which inventories are at times high relative to demand. Unlike their peers in crops such as pomegranates, the industry has been unable to achieve the same levels of success for blueberry juice even though the product has similarly flavorful and high-antioxidant attributes. Worthy of inclusion is also the example of the Brazilian acai industry, which has capitalized on the Amazonian fruit’s high antioxidant content with acai bowls and smoothies sold in far-flung trendy cafes and eateries across the developed world.

North America remains the leading processed blueberry growing region and market, having practically doubled since 2010, but China’s processed industry is catching up after jumping three-fold between 2017 and 2020 according to the official figures. It is important to note that a disproportionate amount of China’s processed fruit is of low grade rabbiteyes destined for the juice and puree market. Processed blueberry exports from South America, most notably Chile, Peru and Argentina, have been increasing steadily as well in recent years and play second fiddle in the IQF industry after the leaders in the Pacific Northwest.

The wild blueberry industry is a sector that witnessed greater rises in price during the pandemic. It is understood that North American wild blueberry crops, concentrated in the continent’s northeast, have witnessed strong export performance to Europe where wild blueberry supplies have been hampered to some degree by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.