Blueberry Growth In Mexico

I heard that there was an increase in plantings of blueberries in Mexico, so a couple of weeks ago I decided to go see it for myself. Although there is no official number of acres in production, sources say that there are between 800-1,000 acres in the ground already. And from what I saw, there will be a significant more in the future.

The majority of the acreage under production is Biloxi variety, which is a southern highbush variety produced by the USDA in Mississippi in 1998. Biloxi is productive in low or no chill growing regions (less than 400 hours) where the bush can be grown fully evergreen. Well, according to what I saw on farms around the cities of Tuxpan, Ciudad Guzman and Sayula, blueberries will do just fine.

I toured farms with agronomists from Chile that have extensive experience growing blueberries. They are very optimistic about the future of blueberry production in Mexico. Companies farming blueberries in Mexico are targeting the April/May production window, which is the production window between South America and North America. During this production window there is not enough production to supply North America's appetite for blueberries and prices are generally higher. However, other growers say that they will have production January through March. If this is the case, then Mexico production will overlap with Chile and could potentially compete with Chile for North American market share.

From what I observed, I am optimistic that Mexico will be a significant player in fresh blueberry production in the future. Do I think that it will replace Chile anytime soon? No way. Grower's in Mexico are going to kill a lot of plants trying to figure out what varieties work well and what areas they grow best in, like we did in the U.S. But they will eventually figure it out. As a consumer, I am very excited; because I would much rather eat a blueberry that only took three days to get to my local market, than three weeks. I think Chilean companies realize that too. I visited a blueberry nursery in Jalisco State jointly owned by a Chilean company and a local government agency in Jalisco state. They are positioning themselves for growth and their newly built nursery has the capacity for up to 3.0 million blueberry plants or enough to plant over 1,500 acres.

In conclusion, blueberry plants are growing well in Mexico, Chilean companies have staked their claim and Mexico’s proximity to the U.S. market, leads me to believe that Mexico will be a blueberry force to be reckoned with in the future. If you don't believe me, ask the Chileans.