South African blueberries are hitting the market well

“Blueberries in Europe are expensive. And that's good, because availability is limited. Peru has as much as 40% less fruit and they are past their seasonal peak,” says Elzette Schutte, operations manager at BerriesZA, the South African trade association for soft fruit. "The harvest is over in the north of the country and now the Western Cape has started. We expect quite a few blueberries in the next three weeks." South African blueberry exports are behind last year's: 9,622 tonnes in week 44 versus 14,200 tonnes in the same week last year. The reason is the lower availability of exportable fruit in the north of the country due to heavy early rains. "But we don't know exactly how much less product there is. Is it 30% or more like 50%? We don't have an idea yet," says Elzette. “But this situation certainly contributes to the season being a bit behind, and the Western Cape has also started a little later.” In the Western Cape the sizes are slightly smaller, she notes, but there is a ...