Blackberry supplies in North America are currently short due to weather conditions in both Georgia and North Carolina.
“I think last year we had better supplies of blackberries but not much better. This time of year is always a little tough for blackberry supplies,” says Robert Wilhelm of Bova Fresh LLC in Boca Raton, Florida.
Wilhelm says Bova Fresh currently has fruit coming from several regions including Guatemala, Georgia, North Carolina and California. “There is not much competition right now as all regions seem to be short,” he adds.
Category growth
At the same time, demand is flat for blackberries, though not as a whole category. “Every year I see more and more blackberry sales on our books and we continue to grow the category each year,” says Wilhelm.
Altogether this means that pricing on blackberries is holding steady and mirrors the pricing seen last year at this time. “There really has been no change in pricing since the domestic deal started. We have been selling mostly in the mid-teens,” he says.
Looking ahead on blackberries, Wilhelm says he expects supplies to fall off with even more rain coming and in turn, expects some Florida and Georgia growers to close up for the season due to that pricing.
