In this episode of “The Business of Blueberries,” host Kasey Cronquist, president of the U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council (USHBC) and the North American Blueberry Council (NABC), is joined by Luis Vegas, general manager of Proarandanos, the Peruvian Blueberry Growers & Exporters Association. What started as a promising year for production in Peru has turned into an unpredictable reversal of forecasts. In this episode, we contextualize what’s happening there to better understand what this means for Peruvian blueberry stakeholders.  

“El Niño phenomenon sometimes can have a global impact, but also sometimes can have a more regional impact. And in this case, it's more of a regional impact of El Niño, which is causing us to have warmer temperatures in the ocean. It's causing us to have warmer temperatures in the atmosphere. … The variety that is being more affected by this warmer weather, it's a variety called Ventura. It's the variety that has the largest acreage here in Peru. So in Peru there's approximately 6,000 hectares of Ventura, the variety that is being more affected, and this affects directly Peru's volumes.” - Luis Vegas

 Topics covered include: 

• Reconnecting with Vegas and his work at Proarandanos.
• The impact weather has had on blueberry production this year and what it could mean for future blueberry seasons in Peru.
• Why Vegas is optimistic about the future of blueberry production and varieties in Peru.

Crop Report

The Blueberry Crop Report is an update on crop conditions and markets throughout important blueberry growing areas. Today you’ll hear from T.J. Hafner in Oregon, Jason Smith in British Columbia and Mario Ramirez in Mexico. This was recorded on September 13, 2023.