China's rapidly-growing blueberry farmland has raised concerns amongst some industry professionals, with Joyvio statistics showing the country now has 16,667ha dedicated to crop, which is growing at a rate of 2,667-3,333ha annually.

According to statistics from the International Blueberry Organization (IBO), China's surface area dedicated to the crop was just 260ha in 2005, growing exponentially to 10,259ha by 2008.

A sales representative from Wotian Agriculture Co., one of China's biggest blueberry growing companies, said that blackberries and raspberries experienced huge price dips in 2010 due to oversupply. Growers had to cut down berry trees and start cultivating other crops.

So while the two industries have been gradually recovering from the breakdown, the experience has raised the question, will history repeat itself for the blues?

In China, blueberries are planted in the northern area of Shandong, and Yunnan in the south. While the consumers are around the entire country, the majority of the fruit still goes to the first-tier market.

Joyvio CEO Chen Shaopeng told www.freshfruitportal.com that although China's current supply is still below demand, the market equilibrium remains a critical issue.

"If I planted 10,000 hectare of blueberry, then the output is a rather definite number. Demand could go up and down, but supply is fixed," he said.

"When the demand is too much then there would be a shortage, but when the demand is too low then we would face an oversupply.

"Notably, blueberries have a certain shelf life. After that, products would decompose, and growers would suffer from this loss."

During the China International Blueberry Conference & Festival, IBO president Andres Armstrong said China's blueberry consumption grew 42% last season and would likely keep going up in the near future.

However, Chen believed that if Chinese demand did not grow in time in line with the orchard expansion, the situation would become "dangerous".

"For us it is about finding an equilibrium. Generally speaking, I think our market has a potential that has not been realized yet, and needs to be explored with great effort.

"So up to now I still think the supply hasn't met the demand yet; but if we fail to explore the potential market soon, the current market would face oversupply, which is highly dangerous."

www.freshfruitportal.com