"There will be problems if the category of berries does not change," says SanLucar executive
Holger Brandt describes a "big threat" to the berry industry, and also talks about the development of new varieties.
“I think now there is a scenario where everyone gets a little nervous, it used to be easy to have growth in berries, but now the quality is changing. In the entire value chain you have to be a little ahead of others to maintain your growth. "
The words of SanLucar's international business development director, Holger Brandt, apply to the entire category, but perhaps, especially to blueberries.
"There used to be a cranberry fever, but now people are nervous because there are really a lot of hectares on the ground and maybe consumption can not grow as fast as what was planted. "Brandt told Fruit Portal during the Fruit Logistics fair.
"Also, if you take a look at consumption, in the US they talk about 4kg (8,8lbs) per capita and they ask Will it grow in Europe?"
"It definitely will not increase if there are still old varieties, or sorting and packaging (old), or selling 125g (4.4oz) at a pretty expensive price."
"There will be problems if they do not change the category of berries"says Brandt, whose company based in Spain focuses on German-speaking markets, and has its own gardens and producing partners around the world.
He noted that there is a "huge gap" between the business of classic producers and those that invest in technology, new varieties and well-trained collectors, and smaller operations.
Brandt added that there was a threat to all the world's producers that produce large volumes of less desirable varieties.
"If there are large companies that only do volume, volume, volume, this is a great threat to all of us in the blueberry industry".
"It could be Peru, Germany, the United States, Spain, it's the same threat anywhere".
2017 perspective
In the blueberries, Brandt is looking towards the 2017 after what was a rather difficult season to get a good offer from the Southern Hemisphere.
"Chile stopped early and Argentina had a very difficult season", Dijo.
"In Peru they had some expectations, but then they could not find the right flavor, or everything is new and they grew too fast. It was a very tough season in the Southern Hemisphere - we strive hard to provide our customers with adequate quality, something we must also try ".
These are situations like this that underline the need to diversify the sources of supply, so SanLucar invests heavily in R&D worldwide to improve or learn new production practices.
“We are processing blueberries in Turkey, Tunisia, Italy and Germany. Everywhere we produce blueberries we have our test plots to always have the best varieties and technology ”, Dijo.
Brandt added that, one of the most widespread developments in berries, particularly blueberries, was the use of substrate production.
Take advantage of better varieties
We asked the executive about the recent developments in raspberry and strawberry cultivars of the group.
“We made some interesting developments, we are very optimistic that it will be a great step on our part for strawberries and raspberries - it will bring flavor and appearance to a new level”.
But What does that mean exactly?
"For example, in strawberries we have the relationship between brix and acidity - it is crucial, so we have different climatic conditions, but we know that what we have now on the ground will always be better than what we have seen so far from other varieties".
“That is for each strawberry, you will never change this, but at least with our varieties we now have at least one or two points higher in brix than everyone else, and that gives us a continuous advantage. And the same thing we have achieved now for raspberries ”.
Source: Portal Fruticola
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