Following two challenging seasons, this year's blueberry crop in British Columbia looks to be a good-sized crop. "In 2022, we had a heat dome with a very late condensed season, and in 2023, we thought we had one of the largest crops ever. It turned out a lot of the pollination didn't happen so we ended up having one of the smallest crops ever," says Rhonda Driediger of Langley, B.C.-based Blueridge Produce. This year, pollination has been very good.
She notes that some areas will start harvest at the end of June while Blueridge Produce itself will begin at the start of July.
Fresh and frozen pricing
As for fresh market pricing, it will likely be a bit lower this season given that all the domestic regions producing blueberries this summer look as though they will have a good crop. "The fresh market now has a lot of supply so the prices are more moderate than they were at this time last year. We'll follow New Jersey, Oregon, and California and there probably won't be any supply deficit by the time we start," says Driediger, noting last year, there was a shortage of fresh supply when B.C. began its season. "However there's not much frozen inventory left at all in North America. Even if every region has an average to above average crop, we should be seeing really good movement in frozen as well as fresh."
B.C.'s supply should go well into September. "As an industry, we've been taking out the older later varieties and replacing them with the new Calypso variety. A lot of that is coming to market this year so I think we'll see stronger demand and stronger supply throughout August and September," says Driediger. That ability to supply the later market is already seeing good support from retailers who also want to stay with domestic supply as long as possible.
For more information:
Rhonda Driediger
Blueridge Produce
Tel: +1 (604) 888-1685
[email protected]
www.blueridgeproduce.com