Chilean blueberry season closes 2023-2024: “In general it was a good season due to the space left by Peru, but the practice of exporting blueberries with poor quality ends up harming the entire industry”

According to information from the Chilean Blueberry Fruit Committee, the Chilean blueberry export season will end with a volume of over 86 thousand tons, showing an increase compared to the initial estimate and a slight decrease compared to shipments from the previous year. "Our initial estimate was 82,300 tons, basically due to the balance of the hectares uprooted and the hectares planted, as well as the migration of some orchards and productions to the frozen industry that no longer have space in the market as a result of a greater competition from other countries. In mid-December we made a re-estimate where everything pointed to lower volumes, around 76 thousand tons, due to the impact of El Niño on production. However, our exports ended up with volumes above the estimate because, due to the expectation of higher prices, fruit was sent that did not meet the quality to which consumers have already become accustomed. Therefore, the final conclusion is that in global terms it was ...