Uruguay
Report Team Narrative
Uruguay, which grows blueberries during a similar timeframe to Argentina, has become even more of a niche supplier than it already was over the past decade with a sharp decline in planted area. The logistical challenges posed by the pandemic have also accentuated the country’s logistical difficulties as a small, isolated industry.
Like Argentina, Uruguay has historically had a strong airfreight focus but the industry has identified a need to turn to seafreight to remain cost-competitive. However, amidst global container shortages and shipping lines coming to grips with scheduling headaches, smaller ports such as Uruguay’s Port of Montevideo have seen a reduction in services and higher charges. This has led exporters to ship via Buenos Aires in Argentina, adding to sea journey times that had already been extended. Uruguayans also have had fewer flight options for airfreight than their Argentinean counterparts. In response to these challenges, many growers opted for the certainty of pricing in the domestic market where consumption is reportedly on the rise.
Uruguayan growers have historically had less access to advanced blueberry genetics, as the sector’s small size has meant less incentive for the world’s leading nurseries and genetics providers to set up operations or license their varieties to smaller farmers. But producers obtain what they can, often importing plant material from Argentina or Chile. In recent years there has been a shift toward varieties that grow earlier in Uruguay’s September-November cultivation window, while one of the industry’s leading companies has young plantings of proprietary genetics from an Australian company.
Uruguayan blueberry production is concentrated in the northwestern region of Salto, whose main city of the same name is highly connected to the Argentine city of Concordia that sits on the other side of the Uruguay River and is a hub for one of Argentina’s leading blueberry-growing areas. But for much of 2021 there was a pandemic-related hard border in place which disrupted the lives of Salto’s residents and businesses, whether it be for travel or sourcing plant material from a Concordia nursery.
The 2021-22 season is best described as uneventful from an agricultural perspective, with no great weather problems or hail issues as those that caused significant damages a few years ago.