PLANT CITY, FL - The blueberry season in Argentina is underway and with the addition of a 75 hectare grower, Wish Farms is looking at an approximate 50 percent increase in volume over the previous few years.
“We’ve seen a significant increase in volume,” Director of Blueberry Operations Teddy Koukoulis tells me, estimating that, at this point, Wish is looking to ship nearly 1.2 million pounds from the region.
Wish Farms is flying blueberries in as promptly as it can to meet the need in the market. Amber Maloney, Director of Marketing, says, “The market is tight, so there is an immediacy in transporting the supplies."
The season was set back a couple of weeks due to the cold weather slowing the growth of the berries, but this hasn’t compromised their quality, Amber notes.
“We started on time, but weather slowed incoming volume,” Teddy said. “We anticipate going right through Thanksgiving with blueberries.”
Typically, Argentina's peak season would hit around this time for Wish Farms' blueberries, but instead it will probably be in two to three more weeks. So, while the window for Argentina’s peak blueberry season has been pushed back, the delay suggests there will most likely be good volumes for the upcoming holiday promotions.
“On the sales side we do our best to provide volume projections and share as much info as possible with retailers to help them plan for their promotions,” Amber tells me, saying that Wish Farms provides weekly projections to help keep their customers as informed as possible.
And with blueberry demand strengthening for year-round product, Argentina is only the beginning.
“The Argentina program is the start to our blueberry season and leads nicely into the Chilean season,” Amber tells me, saying that the company is on track for strategic growth, establishing relationships with new growers and partners.
“We have four growers in Argentina and year after year we want to continue to grow,” Teddy added.
Aside from letting retailers know that they can count on continued blueberry supplies throughout the Thanksgiving holiday, Wish Farms has a few new things in the works to be announced in coming weeks.
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