China is growing its blueberry production massively, but South Africa can still export berries to them
We have generally seen China as a key market for expanding blueberry exports. But others worldwide are starting to worry about China’s sustainability as a blueberry importer.
But I think the concerns about China’s demand are issues for farmers in the Northern Hemisphere. For those in the Southern Hemisphere, China remains a crucial market.
A Wall Street Journal article says Chinese blueberry production has increased massively in recent years.
Amongst other things, it states that:
“As tales of blueberry fortunes spread, Chinese entrepreneurs rapidly built farms of their own. They adopted high-tech growing techniques similar to Driscoll’s, even allegedly copying greenhouse designs used by farmers growing for Driscoll’s. They also swiped the company’s patent-protected varieties, a Chinese court has ruled. State banks fed the rush, offering a special category of loans for blueberry growers.
Production in China has shot up 25-fold since 2010. In 2021, China overtook the U.S. as the world’s top blueberry grower, and by 2025 its annual production was double what it was in the U.S.
For Chinese consumers, it was a blueberry bonanza. Prices dropped so low—often $3 or less for a 9-ounce container—that state media trumpeted an era of “blueberry freedom,” in which even ordinary people can gorge on a once-exotic fruit.”
Clearly, domestic production in China is starting to squeeze the imports. The American farmers are seeing the impact. The Wall Street Journal states that:
“China agreed to allow fresh American blueberry imports in 2020, but expanding domestic production and tariffs have shut U.S. farmers out of the market.”
On the face of it, this would seem worrying because, as South Africa, we have generally viewed China as a key market for blueberry exports.
For example, the BFAP recently indicated that China’s blueberry imports rose from 6 000 tons in 2014 to 39 000 tons in 2024, and we conservatively project imports to exceed 80 000 tons by 2034.
So, regardless of production growth, demand will largely remain, and for us in South Africa, the seasonality advantage may also help.
China relies on imports between August and December to ensure year-round supply, precisely when South Africa and other Southern Hemisphere producers harvest.
So, while their domestic production has increased and worries many in the Northern Hemisphere, we in South Africa are likely still in the game!
China remains a key market for blueberries, and the zero-tariff access is a critical boost for South Africa’s blueberries.