The global blueberry cultivation is facing a big challenge, says Cort Brazelton, director of Business Development at Fall Creek Farm & Nursery. According to the American blueberry expert there are too many berries of a lower quality than the consumer desires on the market. This problem has to be tackled by the sector. He also gives his vision of the European market.
“A large amount of the blueberries in Europe and outside have already become a commodity due to a lack of quality and a lack of a coordinated supply chain combined with a well-planned marketing strategy,” Cort starts. A problem for the market is that the berries don’t have the desired firmness, flavour, absence of softness and decay and size preferred by the various markets. What is more problematic is the quality of the berries that are available. “The big challenge is the huge volume of blueberries that aren’t worth consumption. My children don’t want to eat those berries. And if kids don’t want to eat berries, we have a problem as a sector. We have to solve this first before we focus on things like size and flavour. First we have to prevent the consumer from being offered soft and mouldy berries.”
Europe: blueberry market
The European market is underestimated. “The total European production is still lower than that of the thinly populated British Columbia in Canada, yet the European ‘blueberry consuming demographic’ is 2.5 times the size as that of the United States.” The ‘blueberry consuming demographic’ is formed by a number of factors that influence blueberry consumption. Income, number of children per household and level of education all help determine the extent to which the consumer is prepared to buy blueberries.
The American market, which according to this calculation a more commoditized market for blueberries, consumes around 80 per cent of the global production. Europe consumes just over 10 per cent. The average growth of the market has been at 13 per cent in the US for almost twenty years, in Europe the market in many countries are growing by over 25 per cent. “Interestingly, the European market has a larger focus on quality and differentiation, in essence and aversions to a ‘commoditised product’”, says Cort. “Many companies in the sector see this as an opportunity to put their product in the market by branding and/or with differentiating quality, for instance. With this they aren’t trying to meet the quickly growing demand, but creating a really special category.”
Large packaging
The markets on the two continents can’t be compared. “The American market seems, in supermarkets at least, to be driven by availability, price, centralised distribution and shrink minimising,” explains Cort. In the area of processed industry there is a good, year round supply of quality products. Europe seems to be more driven by differentiating, fresh quality and price. “The market is also more diverse and selective. They are totally different markets!”
A change that seems to be coming from the other side of the ocean is the larger packaging. “I recently bought half a kilo of Spanish blueberries in the Albert Heijn in Schiphol”, says Cort, who visited Europe in April. “They were very tasty berries.” The advantage of the larger packaging is that the consumption rises automatically. Pricing for the berries has to generate good return for the growers, and, not unimportantly, the price has to be accepted by the consumer. “And the fruit has to be guaranteed to be good. An advantage of the larger packaging is that the cost price per kilo of materials decreases for the producers.”
Import necessity
Europe will remain dependent on import for the supply during certain parts of the year. “The entire continent is too far north to be able to grow on a competitive scale year round. Bear in mind that central Mexico is on the 16th latitude, whilst the south of Morocco is at the height of southern California. Without going into much technical detail, Europe can realise a good supply in the late winter, spring and summer, with varying levels of availability.” Add African and South American supply to the European season and a year round supply is created.
The blueberry cultivation in the tropics is a good addition in this regard. On the other hand this could form a threat to the cultivation in Europe. “Every region that can supply a quality product at a competitive price is a threat to regions with higher production costs and lower quality.” Cort predicts that European and American growers who don’t play into the changes in the market correctly with a view to what the consumer wants will lose their competitive position. “They will have to be competitive, professional and focused for the final customer to survive.”
