According to the Georgian Blueberry Producers Association, an agreement to export Georgian blueberries to the EU was reached with wonderland farmers at Fruit Attraction 2023, which took place last week in Madrid. The memorandum between the Georgian Blueberry Growers Association and the German side was signed within the framework of the USAID agriculture program. Thanks to USAID Agriculture Program’s support, wonderland farmers and other traders exported a trial batch to Germany earlier this year and sold in national supermarket chains.
The fact that cooling, sorting, and packaging of berries is carried out in Georgia, as well as the participation of a buyer’s representative, and personal inspection of the quality of blueberries before export, allows Georgian growers to guarantee the high quality of export products, EastFruit notes.
According to the Georgian Cold Storage and Logistics Association (GCSLA), 118 cold storage warehouses operate in Georgia, including 35 supported by USAID’s agricultural program. About 15 cold storage warehouses located in Western Georgia are focused on blueberries. Their total capacity is about 3,500 tons per season.
During the past season, the Association took measures to ensure efficient transportation by hiring two drivers to minimize travel time and reach the destination in a maximum of 6 days. Thanks to efficient transportation and high-quality products, exports can reach 70t per week.
Notably, almost all Georgian blueberry exports go to Russia, which has the lowest growth among the leading importing countries, is under severe sanctions due to the war with Ukraine, and is generally an extremely unstable market. Therefore, diversification of export markets will allow manufacturers to ensure business stability and sustainable profits.
According to Geostat, from January to August 2023, Georgia exported about 3,270 tons of blueberries, 2.4 times more than the previous record set in 2022. Blueberry exports generated nearly $20 million in revenue in 2023, the same as the previous three seasons. Of course, the main factor in this was the increase in production and export volume.
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