Blueberries Lead the Way for Organic Sale Gains

Shipments of organic blueberries from Chile have exploded this winter, and there should be promotable supplies of the category from all sources from now through April and into May. 

Karen Brux, Managing Director of Chilean Fresh Fruit Association

“This has shaped up to be a great year for Chilean conventional and organic blueberries in North America and across the globe,” said Karen Brux, managing director of Chilean Fresh Fruit Association, on Monday, Feb. 11.  “We’re in the heart of our main promotional period, and blueberries from Chile will be available through March.”

She said that all blueberry shipments are up this year, but shipments of organic blueberries are off the charts and are leading a surge in overall organic fresh fruit and shipments.  “Organic blueberry exports are at their peak, with 11,785 tons exported season to date, a 41 percent increase over last season,” she said.

A look at the numbers reveals that the organic category is accounting for a significant percentage of the increases in Chilean blueberry shipments this year.  Consider that through the first week of February, blueberry exports from Chile to all countries were closing in on 100,000 tons for the season. That represented about a 3 percent increase (or 3,000 tons) over the previous year at that particular time.  Organic blueberry shipments all by themselves were up about that same tonnage at that point.

Brux said North America receives the vast majority of Chile’s organic blueberry supply, with more than 9,000 tons of organic blueberries shipped to the United States through Feb. 10, which represented more than 75 percent of total organic export volume.  “We expect organic volume to be around 12 or 13 percent of the total fresh blueberry volume shipped to the U.S., but if you look at volume shipped through Week 6, organic is 17 percent of the total,” she added.

When the season is completed, the Chilean Blueberry Commission expects the total volume of blueberry exports from that South American country will top 110,000 tons.  While that is roughly the same as last year, Brux said it is a bit of a surprise because of earlier estimates.  “This is great news, especially since the committee was originally anticipating a decrease in volume following last November’s hailstorms.”

Cindy Jewell, California Giant Berry Farms

While Chile is a leading supplier of organic blueberries, that category is seeing increases from all production areas.  Cindy Jewell of California Giant Berry Farms, Watsonville, CA, told OPN that both Mexico and Oxnard, CA, are currently harvesting organic blueberries in a light way.  She added that this North American “production of organic blues” will continue to pick up steam, with the Oxnard supplies expected to peak during the first half of April.  “Steady volume right now. Promotional volume mid-March through mid-May,” she said on Feb. 12, speaking of Cal Giant’s supplies.

Luciano Fiszman, Blueberry Category Manager of Gourmet Trading Company

Another company that is a significant player in blueberries, with both organic and conventional supplies, is Gourmet Trading Company, headquartered in Los Angeles. The blueberry category manager, Luciano Fiszman, told OPN that with supplies coming from multiple points of origin retailers should consider promoting organic blueberries over the next couple of months. 

“There is currently great supply in volume out of Chile, and Mexico is also starting to supply organic blueberries to the market,” he said. “Chile should last through March and the peak of Mexican production will come later in March thru April. Coming April there should also be organic blueberries available in Florida.”

He is optimistic that the organic blueberries will get some promotional activity.  “More and more chains are looking into this, while in the past there was not enough attention to this product,” he said.

Besides ocean shipments, Gourmet Trading has established a special program by air that Fiszman said is working very well, and delivering excellent quality product to the marketplace.

In further fleshing out the value of organic blueberries as part of the entire organic pie, Brux said the little round blue fruit is leading the charge.

“Organic fresh produce sales (in the United States) hit $5.6 billion in 2018. The exciting part about this for us is that in terms of absolute dollars, blueberries saw the biggest increase, with the organic blueberry category growing by $63.9 million,” she said. “As the Southern Hemisphere's premier supplier of organic blueberries, this is encouraging news for Chile.  We have a long history of working with retailers across the country to promote Chilean blueberries, and we’re now extending that support to organic-specific promotions. We’re committed to expanding the category, so it’s key that we work with retailers to drive sales of both conventional and organic blueberries.”