Shipments of blueberries from South of Jalisco (Mexico) have been well received in Japan where they have been placed within the premium market. This is an example of the potential that berries have as sources for foreign exchange earnings, investment and employment in the Mexican countryside.
The company director of Berries Paradise, Francisco Javier Ortiz Esquivel, stressed that the technical foundations and the commercial experiences set indicate that these fruits have a very promising future in the immediate term.
He cited that the six thousand tons of blueberries currently produced in the Mexican countryside (especially in Michoacan and Jalisco), could become 100,000 in ten years.
He mentioned that exports to Japan have the commercial support from the Smile Commercial Corporation (Walmart's agent in Asia), while in the domestic market they have a good partnership with Costco.
He specified that while Mexican production of blueberries is smaller compared to that of Chile and the United States, they should take advantage of the microclimates within the Mexican countryside and its proximity to the United States.
For his part, the representative of the Secretariat of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries and Food (SAGARPA), Juan Antonio González Hernández, said that the efforts undertaken by the Federal Government would lead to having better market niches for the berries, as is the case for China.
District Chief of SAGARPA in Zapotlán, Jorge Gascón Fernandez said the berries have had a magnificent adaptation process in the South and Southeast regions of Jalisco, which can be seen in their early development and better yields.
The head of special projects for the Ministry of Economic Development of Jalisco (SEPROE), Federico Lepe Montoya, said that Jalisco field exportable products require alternatives in logistics, where direct flights between Guadalajara and Hong Kong become important, something that has to be reviewed and the steps pending to achieve it, before the Ministry of Communications and Transport, taken.
