“We have maintained an increase in production of blueberries”

This year’s harvest for Portuguese blueberries is over, however, that doesn’t mean that it’s over, claims Lourenco de Botton, of Portuguese fresh produce exporter Logofruits: “Our harvest ended about two weeks ago and, overall, it was an excellent season. We could enjoy an affordable and steady price all through the year and currently in the phase of the season when we are able to offer our services to customers. We work with a variety of suppliers we have worked with before, that are returning to us for packing, sorting and cold storage.”

Despite the fact that the weather is slowing down through the beginning of the season de Botton feels it has improved the pace overall. “It was definitely an unusual year, with lots of rain in the beginning that led to the slow, late beginning of the season. On the positive aspect, we did not experiencing a particularly high season and we managed to maintain high levels over a longer duration. We noticed a huge market as searches for blueberries is increasing all over Europe. We have a high-standard and top quality fruits was rewarded with this by our suppliers.”

Based on de Botton, production has been increasing this year, but more importantly, the quantity of fruit that is not as good quality is down: “In terms of volumes there was a constant increase as compared to prior years. We also we also reduced the proportion of lower quality and second-grade fruits. We aimed at similar markets to prior years as we are in very good relationships with our clients/partners. However as we have seen an increase of the quantity of fruit, we were able to devote more kilograms to the Portuguese national market.”

In the future, the process of providing packing as well as sorting service is the current center of Logofruits. “We continue to invest into the field, looking to increase productivity, reduce costs, and striving to become the most efficient we can regarding water usage. In this time of the year, we’ve changed towards services we offer. We offer a broad range of packing and sorting services and are always looking for partners in this time of year.” de Botton concludes.

More information is available here:

Lourenco de Botton

Logofruits

Tel: +351 914 666 661

Email: [email protected]

Source: The Plantations International Agroforestry Group of Companies