“It gets too expensive for Argentina to ship blueberries to the U.S. when the market price for berries is $16 and even cheaper,” said Greg Mills of Team Produce. “Air freight costs too much. Nobody makes money and everyone, from the farmer to the importer, takes a financial loss.”
Mills is referring to Argentina’s export of only 30 percent of its blueberries at the end of October. Many countries experienced the same price drop, but it was especially intense in the U.S. market.
“Argentina is beginning to ship its blueberries by boat,” said Mills. “This takes a couple weeks and makes it harder. They have to ship the berries before they reach maturity so they don’t reach us fully matured. We will be starting to import blueberries from Chile beginning in December,” shared Mills.
“It’s hard to say what blueberries will be selling for. We’re shooting for $18 per flat. Each flat contains 12 6-oz clamshells,” Mills said. “We would like to see that price go up, but that depends on demand and supply. The price drop we experienced was due to an oversupply.” When prices fall too low, farmers cut the numbers of acres they plant.
For more information:
Greg Mills
Team Produce
Tel: +1 305-592-5562