Sales of Serbian blueberries, including exports to the EU and Russia, have exceeded US$1m (€818,000) for the first time in the country's history.
According to the recently established National Serbian Blueberry Association, shipments to the EU have already doubled since the country began producing the fruit back in 2006.
“This is a huge step forward for a country that introduced the crop only six years ago,” commented Sasa Marusic, who has led the development of blueberry production in Serbia over the past decade on behalf of the US Agency for International Development (USAID), private company Development Alternatives Inc and nonprofit group International Relief and Development.
Despite extremely warm weather and drought conditions over the harvest period, industry sources are predicting a highly successful campaign for the country's berry trade.
Full story in Eurofruit, September 2012.
