A tour of the South African blueberry season

The 2023/24 South African blueberry season is currently underway. A prolonged and wet winter, particularly in the Western Cape, has caused a delay in the season's harvest, creating uncertainties around yield forecasts. According to Brent Walsh, CEO of Berries ZA, forecasting has been a difficult task due to the unpredictability surrounding delayed ripening. "If you look at our northern territories, where blueberries are produced, we have a shortage because they have now closed their season and we are looking at an average of about 15% shortage in the production of our northern territories, but we are still to see the final yields coming out of the Western Cape, where most of our production is located," says Brent. Despite the difficulties, there is optimism about the quality of the product, and forecasts point to a reduction in the initial export estimate of 25,000 tons. South Africa Export Volume History The global shortage of blueberries, especially Peruvian ones, is one of the ...