BerryWorld South Africa will be exporting blueberries to Asia as the soft-fruit company’s production in the Rainbow Nation is forecast to nearly double.
BerryWorld is forecasting a total seasonal supply of more than 7,500 tonnes across South Africa’s August to January window, representing a growth of over 40 per cent on last year for the berry specialists.
“We are expanding our production and our customer base and continuing to develop our IP and systems through dedicated R&D work,” said Jason Richardson, managing director of BerryWorld South Africa.
“We recently held our Annual Grower Day event in Stellenbosch, an event which brings our dedicated and ever expanding BerryWorld team together with all our growers, in order to align, plan and prepare for the upcoming season and the long-term future of the business.'
The company said it was also celebrating a “significant growth in shopper penetration”, thanks to their exclusive MBO varieties.
“Our MBO varieties continue to excite us and some have already been awarded Superior taste awards by the International Taste Institution”, Richardson added.
“These exclusive varieties offer our customers superior size, great flavour profiles and texture characteristics that provide firm berries with a wonderful crunch.”
Chloe Butler, head of insights at BerryWorld UK said that the company was also aiming to drive its South African blueberry exports to the UK. “Kantar data for the UK shows that in the 12 w/e 31stDecember 2019 (peak of the South African season, market penetration on blueberries was 24.8 per cent.
“By comparison the summer average was 36 per cent (April to June 2019), demonstrating that there is significant head room to encourage summer blueberry shoppers to continue to buy in the winter.”
BerryWorld say their MBO varietal offer gives them the opportunity to bridge the gap between end of the Polish and UK blueberry seasons, according to, bringing South African supply into Europe as early as possible.
The Group is also celebrating its 25thanniversary with the launch of a new brand look, which will be on display at Asia Fruit Logistica.
Stefan Viljoen, BerryWorld South Africa’s sales manager said: “As part of the global roll out of the newly designed BerryWorld brand, we have now launched in Singapore and Malaysia. It’s been fantastic to celebrate our 25th anniversary year with a new brand and I’m excited seeing it come alive across the globe”.
BerryWorld South Africa will be exhibiting at Fruit Logistica Asia from the 4th September to 6th September at stand 5E02 in hall 5
