Hundreds of blueberry growers from around the world will gather in Argentina and Uruguay in September for the International Blueberry Organisation’s 2016 meeting.
The IBO Summit brings together the main blueberry producing and exporting countries to discuss and analyse the latest industry trends including new technologies and productive varieties.
This year the venue will be the Argentine city of Concordia and Salto in Uruguay. The Summit will be held on 20-22 September in Concordia’s Convention Centre, and will include field trips to a packing plant in Salto, as well as to a plantation and a nursery in Concordia.
Speakers from the US, UK, Mexico, Spain, Chile, Uruguay and Argentina, among other countries, will give lectures about the characteristics of the berry market in Europe, the role of supermarkets and the consumption trends in the most demanding countries; the current situation of production and demand for blueberries worldwide; climate change in the region, and anti-hail protection, an issue that hits close to local production, among other topics.
The Argentinean Blueberry Committee (ABC) and its Uruguayan counterpart, Upefruy, are in charge of organising the summit. In Concordia, the event features the participation of the Blueberry Producers Association of Argentina (Apama) and has the support of the provincial and local governments.
The city of Concordia in Entre Rios, is at the epicentre of blueberry production in the Mesopotamian region and is home to several leading exporters. During the season, the sector employs an average of almost 10,000 people.
