Only history will tell whether UK growers- with apologies to the far-sighted Trehane family - decide to move into blueberries. But last week at Fruit Focus talk of the fruit was on virtually everyone’s lips.

Trying to analyse why is more complex.

Apparently blueberries are regarded by the all-powerful supermarkets as the most important line in the soft-fruit category after strawberries and raspberries, to quote the UK’s leading grower David Trehane.

So it is not surprising that there is increased planting down in Dorset, where the niche industry is centred. It was going strong when I first visited in the 1960s, and apart from selling to the multiples, Trehane’s company even appears to have a thriving business at the local farmer’s markets and food shows in the south.

Now it seems everyone wants to jump on the bandwagon. I sensed the initial enthusiasm at the first blueberry conference held earlier this year. Here the main message was that it is possible to grow the fruit using techniques which do not rely on open-air planting in acidic soil.

Apart from encouraging an industry seeking to widen its portfolio, the surge in interest is the first sign that despite the undoubted success of the English berry crop in recent years, returns in future may not be as rewarding. This comes at a time when the whole produce industry is desperately worried over the price pressure being exerted in the High Street.

Certainly, blueberry production figures presented to members of The Summerfruit Company at the event were making mouths water. Returns of £3.50 a kilo when bushes are established, and the statistical promise that the UK is capable of filling the increasing market demand in the summer.

However, in horticulture there is usually a counterbalance. Apart from the fact that any prospective grower must look forward to fencing plantations on a scale and cost similar to that of the Longleat Game Park to keep out rapacious rabbits and deer, there is also a time scale.

Blueberries are so popular internationally that entire soft-fruit industries world-wide are queuing up to buy more bushes - so it takes at least a year to receive the goods after placing the order.

My spies also tell me that there are actually very few varieties which make the grade. They are either too sour, too mushy, or simply do not fulfil marketing needs, including the advantage of storability.

So the crop will never be an immediate fix, particularly because bushes take four years to mature, even if they have a life of up to 40 years.

Hopefully I will be around to report the surge. David Trehane - and there is probably no one better qualified - estimates that existing production levels in England and Scotland could quadruple to 100 hectares.

Compared with strawberries and raspberries it shows there is still a long way to go.

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