Product comparisons
View this service
A consistent quality of blueberries
Few fruits show such strong consumption growth as blueberries. Blueberries have been among the fastest-growing fruits on the market for more than 10 years. This is mainly because they are easy, healthy, tasty and visually appealing. But how do you maintain consistent quality?
Where does blueberry consumption growth come from? The main factors here are the health aspect, taste and bite. Consumers are most dissatisfied with soft and sour berries. Did you know that the origin of blueberries has a major impact on quality?
Blueberries are surfing along with trends such as healthy eating and photo posting by foodies on social media. This has further extended the blueberry’s reach. As a colourful, attractive fruit, it is a popular choice in recipes and food images. As a result, people see the versatile use of blueberries in desserts, breakfasts and as decoration. The blue colour sets blueberries apart from other berries and complements most dishes online for photography.
As a retailer and supplier of blueberries, you can influence quality by looking at provenance and varieties. For example, Dutch and Chilean berries have a softer texture, while berries from Peru tend to be more acidic, but also firmer. In addition, high-quality berries come from South Africa and Morocco.
As growers replace traditional blueberry varieties with better-tasting, newer varieties, flavour improvements continue to drive consumption. Improved storage conditions in the chain and refrigerated supermarket sales have also contributed to better quality blueberries for consumers or longer shelf life.
In recent years, segmentation in the number of packaging types such as pails and snack fruit cups has further increased blueberry sales and share in this market.This has also contributed to further growth in blueberry consumption as a whole. The trend going forward will be more on alternative packaging with less plastic, such as cardboard packaging or packaging with a mesh structure to use less plastic.
With better varieties, better cold chain control and trends where blueberries fit well, we see blueberry consumption increasing by more than 10% annually in many markets. While blueberry consumption has been high for some time in the Netherlands, England and Norway, other European markets still have a lot of development potential. Blueberry consumption continues to rise and will continue to do so if we further secure and roll out the quality improvements initiated in recent years.
Quality and availability of fruit and vegetables fluctuate all the time. Besides daily tasks such as inspecting AGF, there are new challenges. Consider the reduction of packaging materials, the increasing focus on flavour, the AGF knowledge of new staff, improving specifications, optimising seasonal transitions and the introduction of new growing techniques.
In this complex fruit and vegetable world, Normec Foodcare is your partner. We give you a grip on the quality of AGF. We do this by:
