South Africa: challenges in logistics reoriented sales on the local market.
15,636 tons of South African blueberries were exported up until the end of 2020; more than in the 2019/2020 season, when 12,221 tons were shipped. The peak in exports was reached between week 41 and week 46. However, heavy rainfall and cold weather caused the harvest to be lower than initially expected. Due to a shortage of air freight capacity and delays in the logistics, many growers decided to sell their products on the local market, causing prices to plunge. The sector has set itself the goal of also exporting more blueberries by ship instead of by air, because the costs for the latter are very high and have kept increasing in 2020.
Last week, the price for blueberries on the domestic market stood at ZAR 100.47 (5.45 Euro) per kilo. Prices have now risen by 77% and reached ZAR 177.33 (9.46 Euro) per kilo because the supply is smaller. Most volumes for export go to the UK and the EU. The Middle East and Asia also remain important destinations.
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