A blueberry cooperative based in the U.S. state of Mississippi has for the first time exported fruit to India and the United Arab Emrites (UAE), according to website Newsobserver.com. 

Grower members of the Miss-Lou Blueberry Co-op, which includes farms in Poplarville, Purvis and Lumberton, reportedly shipped around 9,000 pounds (4 metric tons) to the emerging markets.

The story said the fruit was first taken to a food import-export operation in Gulfport called Gateway America, before being transported to Houston, Texas, where the blueberries were loaded onto planes.

The idea reportedly came about when Dinesth Shinde, the owner of Mumbai-based importer Anusaya Fresh Worldwide, visited Miss-Lou Co-op farms and decided he wanted to import U.S. blueberries.

Anusaya Fresh will distribute the product throughout the two countries.

The U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council, which is a member of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS), helped by coordinating the exports, according to Newsobserver.com.

The Council's market development consultant Thomas Payne said the organization's long-term goal was to export 15% of the national crop, with India being a target market.

"To achieve this we need to succeed in countries such as Brazil, Russia, India and China. These markets are massive and complex and we'll need FAS' continued presence and guidance," Payne was quoted as saying.

Miss-Lou Co-op president Tim Goggan reportedly said member growers would harvest about 2 million pounds (907 metric tons) of blueberries this year, with about 25% of them set for export.

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