Europe and North America are the two largest producers of blueberries. Among the top blueberry producers in the EU in 2020, Spain and Poland emerged as the top two. Both places contributed 30% to EU harvests. It is due to the strong expansion of cultivation areas in Poland that Poland accounts for a large share of the EU harvest as well as the increasing interest of domestic consumers and exports, according to the KOWR report.
The area planted with blueberries in Poland has increased 13fold since Poland joined the EU in 2004. According to KOWR, blueberry production rose from just under 4,000 t to over 38,000 t during the same period, almost entirely as dessert fruit. In addition to growing blueberry production in Poland, blueberry sales on foreign markets are also increasing. 40% of Polish blueberry production was exported to 34 different countries in 2020.
During the past few years (2015-2019), foreign sales accounted for between 25% and 35% of the production volume of this fruit. This shows that foreign consumers are becoming increasingly interested in Polish blueberries.
According to KOWR, domestic blueberry exports increased from 2,000 tonnes to 15,400 tonnes between 2012 and 2020, i.e. almost eightfold. The majority of Polish blueberries are sold in Europe in 2020, as they were the previous year. However, for some time, there is a second clear trend, which is export to other continents.
90% of Poland’s blueberry exports to the EU were in 2020. In terms of export volume, Germany accounted for 37% and Great Britain for 15%, respectively. Also, 1,000 tons (8%) of this fruit was sold to the Netherlands, 800 tons (5%) to Norway, and 700 tons (4%) to Denmark. Around 300 t of blueberries was shipped to Belarus. Overseas blueberry exports have continued to increase since January 2021. Polish imports of fresh blueberries were 5,700 t over the same period last year (28%) compared to 4,500 t.
