There will be a problem with the supply of imported blueberries in Poland

2021-02-03 11:19

Winter is obviously not the period of a significant presence of highbush blueberry on the Polish fresh fruit market. In January and February, it has to be imported from far away - from the southern hemisphere. First, blueberries from Peru and then from Chile dominate these imports.

Naturally, these fruits are relatively expensive, so the demand for them is limited and, consequently, imports are not large either. This season the problem has been exacerbated by the pandemic, as harvesting and transport costs have risen. In addition, there is still a lockdown in Europe in the HoReCa sector, which is normally an important consumer of imported blueberries in winter.

However, the end of February and the beginning of March is a period when the market for imported blueberries undergoes an important qualitative change. The import of fruit from far away is ending and blueberries from Morocco and, especially from March onwards, from Spain are starting to be traded. And this fruit is significantly cheaper than South American fruit.

This season, however, this transition will be difficult. The offer from Chile may end earlier than usual, and that from the Mediterranean will be delayed due to the cold winter. In the European market, there will be a gap in supply, which will probably translate into no fall in prices or even an increase. At the moment, blueberries are offered at the small wholesaler's level at 10.00 PLN/250 g, i.e. 40 PLN/kg (they can be bought loose at 20.00 PLN/kg). Prices in the small wholesale may rise to 12.00-14.00 zł/250 g, i.e. a level similar to that of a year ago in April 2020, except that then it was caused by huge demand.

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