Rough Road Ahead?

Surge in Mexican Blueberry Imports Stifling Florida’s Blueberry Profits

- Sheng Li, Ariel Soto-caro, Tianyuan Luo, Zhengfei Guan

BLUEBERRY IS A RELATIVELY new crop in the world market compared to other members of the berry family. The United States is the largest blueberry producer in the world, supplying half of the world's blueberry products over the past decade. About 50 percent of the U.S. blueberry production was sold as fresh products.

Between 2000 and 2018, U.S. blueberry production (fresh and processed) increased by 48%, from 294 million pounds in 2000 to 605 million pounds in 2018. The growth in the fresh blueberry production was most prominent and the production increased by 284% over the period, from 80 million pounds in 2000 to 306 million pounds in 2018 (Figure 1). As domestic consumption of fresh blueberries kept increasing, the fresh blueberry imports have also increased dramatically, from 37 million pounds in 2000 to 395 in 2018, superseding the total U.S. production in 2016 (Figure 1). The U.S. blueberry exports were relatively stable over the period, averaging 58 million pounds per year.

FLORIDA BLUEBERRY INDUSTRY