Blueberry top 5 and emergence of Eastern European countries
The blueberry market shows an increase in players who want to be part of this attractive growth market. In the EU, supply is dominated by a number of key players, according to data from Eurostat.
Poland has a leading role in 2015 with an area of 3200 hectares. Poland is followed by countries such as Germany (2480 ha), Spain (1800 ha), Portugal (1330 ha) and the Netherlands (740 ha). Poland has 33% of the combined area of these 5 countries.
A few years later it can be seen that all countries have expanded their acreage. However, the area is still dominated by Poland with 46% (8090 ha) in 2018. This is mainly at the expense of Germany which now has 17% (3040 ha) of the joint area, which was previously 26%.
Even though the Netherlands is not at the top of the list of countries with the largest area, there is still an upward trend. A growth of 26% was achieved in the 2015-2018 period, amounting to 930 hectares.
Among a number of Eastern European countries, there is also a growth in blueberry cultivation. In Latvia there is even more than a doubling of the area: from 200 to 500 hectares. Croatia also shows a nice increase from 90 to 250 hectares. In Serbia, where abbGrowers is also located, the cultivation area is approximately 100 hectares. (The data on Serbia is not yet included with Eurostat.)
For further information:
Jeannette Westdorp abbGrowers 077-2300001 or info@abbgrowers.com