Even as recently as 2000, blueberries were only a niche crop in Oregon. The great bulk of production came from other states, such as Michigan and New Jersey. Today, the Northwest is the world's leading blueberry growing region.
Experts report that the industry continues to expand and blueberries grow in awareness and preference by consumers. However, growing foreign competition and higher labor costs have affected prices significantly, forcing producers, companies, and industry to innovate to stay competitive.
According to an article on blueberriesconsulting.comΒΈ production has increased and it is also facing greater competition in the market, coming from shipments from Mexico, Chile and Peru, which are flooding the markets with fruit, leaving behind the moments of great profitability of the product that the US farms enjoyed over the preceding decades.
In this search, local consumption is being looked at directly, from farm to consumer, although commercial research regarding the penetration of blueberries in North American households does not reach 40%, still very low compared to strawberries, which have an index that exceeds 70%