Chilean blueberry suppliers this year are talking about the maturity of the market, thanks to top-notch infrastructure, improved communications and a careful use of climate zones and varieties.
“It’s moving from being an f.o.b. spot market industry with limited supplies … into program selling in the U.S.,” said Brian Bocock, vice president of sales for Naturipe Farms, Naples, Fla. “Part of the goal here is unification, so that we are not beating each other up on who has the best package on a particular day.”
Bocock said blueberry suppliers attending the Produce Marketing Association’s Fresh Summit 2009 were enthusiastic about the potential for a strong North American season.
“There is a lot of excitement about the opportunity to promote blueberries like never before,” he said. “When we put that all together with the right promotion, right packs, right value proposition to American and Canadian consumers, we will end with a very successful year.”
Robert Verloop, vice president of marketing at Naturipe Farms, said Naturipe had some success last year with a targeted sales promotion approach.
“If you go back three or four years ago, we didn’t have the confidence in the supply chain for advertisers to get aggressive,” he said.
Verloop said the new approach means encouraging larger displays, encouraging ads to accompany the move to larger packaging and providing educational tools like recipes, demos and tie-ins with other companies.
Eric Crawford, owner of Fresh Results LLC, Weston, Fla., added the expected volumes and upgrade to larger pack sizes in Argentina and Chile will make market transitions more seamless.
“What’s really important is that the consumer sees a consistent-size package and consistent value week in and week out year-round,” he said. “That’s really what our challenge is, and I think we have moved a lot closer to fulfilling that challenge this year than we ever have before.”
Using climate zones
Verloop noted Chilean growers have taken a proactive approach to microclimate farming and use of new varieties.
Verloop explained Chilean growers use different cultivating practices and varieties from the north to the southern part of the country to capitalize on the climate zones.
“Chile is an amazing country for microclimates,” said Mario Flores, blueberry product manager for Naturipe Farms. “People are still trying to explore the best varieties and different parts of country to harvest in to hit a later marketing window.”