“The timing of the Oregon blueberry season has been typical and is in line with what we expected,” says Jeff Malensky with Oregon Berry Packing. Harvest started late June and the season is expected to continue into part of September. “However, this year’s volume is not typical as numbers are well off our expectations,” he said. During pollination in May, it was very hot, causing suboptimal pollination conditions. This has resulted in less fruit as well as smaller sized fruit. This seems to be a pattern across the Pacific Northwest; in Oregon, Washington, as well as British Columbia.
“From a quality perspective, this year is much better compared to last year,” commented Malensky. “The entire Pacific Northwest region has been extremely dry since May 10. This has resulted in fruit with high Brix levels. “The blueberries are very sweet this year with excellent flavor. I can tell the difference with last year as my kids eat blueberries all the time this year. They love them.”
Processed and fresh
Oregon Berry Packing is a grower, packer, and processor of Oregon blueberries. Due to overall lower production levels, the quantity that goes into processing is lower this year. “The volume just isn’t coming in. While I expected lower volumes to cause a strong processing market, inventory from last year has slowed this process from immediately reacting to the shortfall in volume.”
On the fresh side, the company’s blueberries are being distributed in the domestic market as well as exported to Asia. “Demand is good and our customers, both domestically and overseas, wish we had larger fruit, and more of it. Demand is definitely outpacing supply of high-quality fruit.”
All in all, it is a challenging season. Challenging for the growers as their production numbers are lower. At the same time, packers and processors receive less fruit and availability of fruit is lower for consumers as well.
For more information:
Jeff Malensky
Oregon Berry Packing
Ph: +1 (503) 640-4410
[email protected]
www.oregonberry.com