45% of Customers Purchase Blueberries

I just recently received in the mail, the The Packer 2009 Fresh Trends publication from www.ThePacker.com. According to survey, 45% of customers purchased blueberries within the past 12 months. This was a 1% increase over last year, but still pales in comparison to strawberries (70% of customers purchased). These statistics indicate the upside for the fresh blueberry industry and for companies selling blueberries. With expected blueberry volume to exceed 550 million lbs. in North America and 800 million lbs. total worldwide by 2012, producers, marketers, foodservice distributors and retailers will have to work together to increase the amount of consumers purchasing fresh blueberries.