How the blueberry conquered the shelves in discount stores

In addition to containing fewer calories and fructose than most other fruits, blueberries are also bursting with healthy antioxidants. These act as a protective shield in the body, lowering blood pressure and enhancing vision. New blueberry farms are popping up everywhere. But even that might not be enough, as demand could soon explode – especially in one country.

Blueberries have become a trendy “superfood” worldwide due to their healthiness, good taste and supposed healing qualities. They colour our smoothies, make a nice topping for cereal or pancakes, and are even used to “pimp” burgers in some fast-food chains.

But that’s not all they can do. Researchers are convinced that the berries lower blood pressure, improve vision and destroy free radicals in our bodies. This has prompted more and more consumers to want to make blueberries part of their diet almost every day of the year. On top of that, they are also willing to spend a pretty penny, relatively speaking, to buy them. New plantations are popping up all over the world, including in places as different as Poland and Morocco or Ukraine and China.

In Germany, blueberries are cultivated on an area of more than 3,000 hectares (almost 7,500 acres). This means that the area under cultivation in Germany alone has more than doubled in the past seven years. However, during the colder parts of the year, this newly branded superfood usually comes from Latin America – and particularly from Chile, Mexico and Peru.

Worldwide, far more than half a million tonnes of blueberries are harvested each year. But only a small proportion of these highly sensitive and quickly perishable fruits are traded across borders. When they are exported, they are mainly transported in refrigerated containers. To ensure that the berries arrive at their destination fresh, a mixture of oxygen and carbon dioxide flows around them after loading, and then they are transported under controlled conditions to Europe, Asia or the United States. Doing so slows the ripening process, which safeguards the quality of the berries and prevents them from becoming mushy. A container packed full of berries can be worth €200,000.

These days, blueberries are usually sold in 125-gram bowl-like containers at prices ranging from €1.50 to €3.50. That’s expensive – but it’s evidently worth the money to consumers. In fact, according to the “Trend Report” from Fruit Logistica, the world’s leading trade fair for fruits, the fresh taste of the blueberries often leads fruit-lovers to forget about their price and put several containers in their shopping basket at the same time. “Price is no longer the primary criterion,” says Rainer Münch of the strategy consultancy Oliver Wyman, who surveyed 7,000 supermarket buyers in 14 countries and discovered this: The fresher the range of fruit and vegetables on offer, the more frequently customers visit the store.

These days, more than half of all fruit is sold over the counter at discount supermarkets. “That’s one of the reasons why demand for blueberries has risen so sharply in recent years,” says Clemens Holz, Director Reefer Product Development at Hapag-Lloyd. Demand has “downright exploded”, he continues, because more and more berries are being sold in supermarkets instead of as expensive delicacies in the winter. In fact, shoppers now think of blueberries as part of the range of goods available year-round. “Production can no longer keep up,” Holz adds.

Hapag-Lloyd mainly transports berries from Chile and Peru to Europe. The voyage typically last between 20 and 25 days. Until five years ago, blueberries were still only being flown to Europe in the winter – and then sold here at a hefty price. By boosting the volume of blueberries transported by ship, supermarket chains in Germany can now offer them all year long, Holz says, adding that “We have helped make the price and availability much better.”

Even so, the potential for even more sales in Europe alone is still huge. Europe’s top blueberry-eaters are the British, who consume an average of 860 grams of them each year . In contrast, consumers in the rest of Europe only eat about 180 grams. But if all Europeans suddenly started eating as many blueberries as the British do, 645,000 tonnes of the fruit would have to be delivered to continental Europe each year. The most recent figure was only 160,000 tons.

But things could also stay as they are. The fact is that the Chinese, more than anyone, might ensure that fewer rather than more berries end up in Europe in the years ahead. Young, affluent, health-conscious Chinese, in particular, have discovered blueberries as a hip snack. And not just blueberries, as they have grown to love avocados and cherries, too. The latter are especially in demand during the Chinese New Year festivities. To meet this demand, Hapag-Lloyd transports Chilean berries and cherries to China in addition to Europe.

This spike in demand obviously hasn’t escaped the notice of growers, who have responded by planting shrubs and trees on a grand scale. At the 7th International Blueberry Conference recently held in Poland, experts predicted that amount of land in China dedicated to blueberry cultivation will reach approximately 70,000 hectares (173,000 acres) by 2020. Five years after that, the berry farms plan to harvest around a million tonnes of blueberries each year. If they succeed, the Chinese would leave the Americans – who currently lead the field with annual production of 240,000 tonnes – far behind.