In addition to Michoacan, Jalisco, Baja California and Guanajuato, the leading producers of berries in the country, entities such as Puebla and the State of Mexico have begun to grow blueberries because of their profitability.
The industry currently exports 1,000 million dollars and has grown by 20% per year in the past three years, said Mario Andrade, President of the Board of Directors of the National Association of Berries Exporters (Aneberries).
"We are amongst the five agricultural products in the country that generate the most foreign currency. However, the most interesting thing is not what the industry is worth, but what it might be worth (...), we talking about, at least, doubling the production over the next five years", he said.
Michoacan, King of berries
The director of Aneberries said the State of Michoacan was the main producer of berries and that its strength lied on blackberry crops, of which it had 12,500 hectares that represented 45% of the total production of berries in Mexico.
"There are States that are pushing strawberries quite hard, such as Baja California and Guanajuato, and Colima with blueberries and other crops. The diversity of the states is becoming increasingly more interesting. Puebla and the State of Mexico are also producing blueberries."
According to the Executive, the national production of berries was composed of small plots with an average of two hectares by producer.
"It's an economy of agglutination, where the companies act as a catalyst for small producers and agglutinate them; then, that gives the small producers who have one or two hectares the opportunity of exporting directly through the companies to the final destination markets," he added.
The advantages of Jalisco
According to Aneberries, Jalisco is a national leader in raspberry and blueberry production where, due to the profitability of the berry sector, the conversion of traditional crops, such as maize, sorghum, and sugarcane to strawberries continues increasing.
The Chairman of the Board of Directors of Aneberries said that 90% of the red fruit production was exported, mainly to the US market, which captures 80% of exports, while the remaining 20% was shipped to Europe, China, Russia, Japan, and Arab countries.
The Secretary of Rural development in Jalisco, Hector Padilla, stated that the recent opening of the Chinese market for the Mexican berries, which are exported through the airport of Guadalajara, boded well for the opening of Russia in the short term.
In that sense, said Mario Andrade, Jalisco has a competitive advantage as it has direct cargo flights to those destinations.
"The connectivity that we have from Guadalajara is enviable and the administrative and operational facilities of the city of Guadalajara are unique, no other airport has the infrastructure, not even the one in Mexico City, which is the largest," he stated
Unlike the rest of the airports in the country, he said, the airport of Guadalajara has a cooling chamber next to the platform.
"In Mexico, the products at the platform are exposed to the weather for nearly three, four, five hours or more, and the exposure period of the products at the platform here is of 10 to 15 minutes," he stated.
