From the October/November issue of Vision Magazine

Blueberries have been an exciting category in recent decades. From their modest beginnings in the first commercial plantings of domesticated Highbush New Jersey a little more than 100 years ago, the specialty crop ‘superfood’ has grown into a global sensation producing more than 1.8 million metric tons worldwide in 2021.

This year’s Global State of the Blueberry Industry Report from the International Blueberry Organization (IBO) corresponds with a time of great transformation in the category as sustained growth in global volumes and consumption drive professionalization, industry maturation and a new competitive environment in quality and unit economics in service of blueberry consumers around the world.

The report sources data from official industry organizations, private sources, and public data resources together with aggregated intelligence from interviews with industry participants around the world.

The data collected for this year’s report puts China at the top of the list as the world’s leading producer, with virtually all volumes consumed domestically. Following China are the United States, Peru, Chile and Mexico respectively, with Peru supplanting Chile in the third position and Mexico replacing Canada in fifth.

A new metric tracked throughout the study identifies an estimated 40% of global production growth has come from increases in yield as opposed to new hectares entering production.

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