Has the cranberry industry reached a critical point?
The blueberry season has just come to an end and in Chile we are still talking about volumes, the growth of tons exported to different parts of the world. Meanwhile, in the destination markets, more and more fruit of multiple origins is being received and our cranberries have more and more competition. Some years ago, if international buyers wanted to have supplies between December and March they had no other alternatives, but today we are not the only ones, and we are not necessarily the first option.
The question is, is there still room in the market for the supply of fresh blueberries that we have from Chile today? In our opinion, it is necessary to generate a much more consistent quality offer, if we want to participate in a good way in today's competitive market. The observed prices, for several weeks this season, project sales to producers that will possibly be below the equilibrium level for this business.
It is not that our fruit is worse by definition, but it is less consistent if we compare ourselves with other countries that are closer to the markets, and that started in this business less years ago planting new and better varieties. In Chile, we have multiplicity of varieties, producers and productive regions, as well as longer transit times to the main destination markets, which poses a major challenge to arrive consistently with the quality parameters currently required.
For the reasons stated above, an important part of our production has already left the fresh market and is exported as frozen. In 2018, more than 44 thousand tons of frozen blueberries were exported, which means almost 30% of the national production. All that fruit has been removed from the fresh market basically because it does not have the necessary condition in a few weeks. It has also been a response to the need for fumigation for the US, and much organic has been derived to frozen. 27% of frozen blueberry exports in 2018 were organic, while only 12% were fresh.
To reverse the above and reposition ourselves as the best option in the different markets, it is then necessary to make an effective selection of varieties and garden management, focused on obtaining greater consistency. Some varieties no longer have the potential to be exported by sea, and the space for air shipments practically disappeared. Others may do so only partially, being essential to consider the harvest periods by variety and a harvest management that considers stricter frequencies, harvest schedules, as well as the prevailing weather conditions. Being more restrictive in these processes and in the management of cold and packaging, will mean having less fruit that meets these standards in the short term, but a fruit that will be able to enter the competition in better conditions. We will also have to work on shortening transport times, which in recent seasons have been extended a lot.
From the Blueberry Committee we are working on improving the consistency of our quality, and we have made important progress. But in the face of increasing competition and the consequent increase in demands, the effort made is still not enough. We have very good quality fruit but because they are not consistent, the quality perception of the whole fruit is affected. We need to be able to generate an offer that differentiates and identifies with the best we have to offer.
The consumption of blueberries in the world continues to grow, and in some markets still in a very incipient stage, so there is a clear opportunity for the industry to continue developing. We are sure that if we focus our efforts on generating consistent quality, even if it means in the short term to limit our offer in part, the future of this industry in Chile is more than promising.
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