Morocco continues to build its dominance on the market for fresh blueberries within Southeast Asia in 2023, says EastFruit. Moroccan blueberry exporters not just beat their previous record for exports to the region, however, they have also boosted the amount of countries who import their blueberries.
From the beginning of January through November 20, 2023 Morocco supplied 1.4 thousand tonnes of fresh blueberries in Southeast Asia (excluding Vietnam) that is nearly 50% more than total of 2022. As the season that is most popular for Moroccan blueberry exports into this region generally is around December time, the results of 2023 are expected to be even greater.
The top markets for Moroccan blueberries from the region was Hong Kong, Singapore, and Malaysia in total, accounting approximately 96% of total supply of Morocco during the initial eleven years of 2023. Additionally, Moroccan exports also increased to markets outside of Morocco. As an example, the shipments to Thailand nearly tripled to 30 tonnes, while those going to Macau increased between 26 and 29 tons. In addition, Morocco entered the Indonesian market for the first time using its blueberries. It sent an experimental batch of 720kg.
It’s worth noting it is that Hong Kong, Singapore, as well as Malaysia are the main blueberry importers in Southeast Asia. The total volume of blueberries imported by all the countries of Southeast Asia increased to 30000 tons by 2021-2022. In 2023, the volume dropped dramatically due to the sluggish supply from Peru as well as Chile.
However some exporters were able to expand their share of the market in the area. Alongside Morocco exports, the country’s exports into Southeast Asia at least doubled from Australia in 2023and even exceeded 11,000 tons. Zimbabwe as the leader in the world in growth of blueberry exports, has also increased exports: by 2023, the amount of blueberries exported increased minimum 74%, to 1.5 thousand tonnes. This was more than the amount of Morocco! China has been reported to be the leading country in blueberry farming and blueberries, increased exports into Southeast Asia by almost 300 percent during the same time. But, the volume in Chinese exports were modest: only 650 tons in Jan-November 2023.
Southeast Asia is one of the most rapidly growing regions of the world, in terms of the increasing demand for fresh fruit. This is due to the growing salaries of the middle class in a variety of countries within this region as well as the huge number of visitors as well as expats who bring their eating habits into the local markets. The growth in consumption of fresh fruits throughout Southeast Asia will also be helped by the rapid rate of growth that the regional economy that, in 2023-2024 in accordance with the IMF estimates, will be smaller than the economies of India as well as China.
More information about the company: east-fruit.com