A March freeze in the Southeast should keep blueberry markets strong in the first half of spring.Dave’s Specialty Imports Inc., Coral Springs, Fla., may not ship any blueberry pints out of Florida this spring because of freeze-related shortages, said Mike Bowe, the company’s vice president.Pint shipments won’t likely start until North Carolina begins coming with volume, probably in the second or third week of May, Bowe said.
Markets will also likely be very strong until at least then.
“According to growers, prices should be firm all season,” Bowe said. “They’ll definitely be firm to start.”On March 20, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported prices of $20-22 for flats of 12 6-ounce cups of medium and large blueberries from Chile, up from $16 last year at the same time.
Some shippers will still likely ship from Florida in pints, based on prior retail commitments, said Eric Crawford, president of Weston, Fla.-based Fresh Results LLC.That will make supplies very tight out of the Southeast in coming weeks, Crawford said March 20. And the market could gap in the second half of April, when Florida yields to Georgia.
Depending on the extent of damage to fruit in south Georgia, Florida could wind up having most of the early deal to itself, Bowe said. North Carolina fruit also could have been damaged by freezes, he said.The week of March 19, small volumes of Florida berries were starting to ship, with good size and eating quality reported, Bowe said.Dave’s Specialty Imports expects to ship its last blueberries from Chile the first week of April. Quality was only marginal on late-season fruit shipping from Chile the week of March 19, Crawford said. The deal should wind down in late March or early April, he said.
In the second half of March, Fresh Results also received blueberries from the Michoacan and Jalisco growing regions of Mexico, Crawford said. Most Mexican fruit, however, was going to Europe and the Far East.“Mexican volumes are not heavy,” Crawford said.
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