Planted area with blueberries in Peru is reportedly expected to exceed 500ha in one year’s time, adding 300ha to the existing 200ha under production by companies including Camposol, Talsa, Agrícola Athos and Intipa Foods, as well as other small companies.
The growth comes in response to interest among Peruvian investors in light of the returns garnered by the fruit, which reach in the region of approximately US$120,000 per hectare, and the profits of between US$80,000 and US$90,000/ha driven by high market prices of US$14/kg, AgroNegocios Perú reported.
“Without a doubt the blueberry business has shaped up to be one of the most attractive for the Peruvian horticulture industry in the last few years, José Francisco Unzueta, general manager of Blueberries Perú, told AgroNegocios Perú.
Peruvian growers are taking advantage of the country’s favourable weather conditions to supply the fruit during existing windows in global supply.
“Each month we receive dozens of calls and emails from overseas looking for Peruvian blueberries for the months in which the fruit is scarce,” Unzueta explained.
'In other words in September, October and November – months in which neither Chile nor Argentina produce and when demand in Europe and the US is strong and the market pays a good price.”
