Whether baked into a muffin or whipped into a smoothie, blueberries have quickly become one of the most popular snacks in the US.
Tesco has announced that demand for blueberries has increased by 27 percent this year.
But growing demand for the berries in Britain is now rapidly outstripping what farmers can produce.
This year, British consumers will buy a whopping 57,000 tonnes of the berries, four times the weight of the Eiffel Tower.
Callum Baker, Tesco berry buyer, says: ‘Blueberries are really the fruit of the moment as they are popular with all age groups due to their healthy reputation.’
Demand for blueberries has increased 27 percent over the past year as consumers become increasingly aware of the fruit’s potential health benefits.
According to Tesco, the growing demand for blueberries is due to increasing recognition of their healthy properties.
According to Baker, they have become particularly popular among children, who have “made them a staple in their lunchboxes over the past decade.”
A paper published in Frontiers in Nutrition, funded by the US Highbush Blueberry Council, shows that blueberries have several notable health benefits.
The researchers concluded: ‘Promising evidence suggests that eating blueberries may be beneficial for cardiovascular health, prediabetes and type 2 diabetes, brain health and cognitive function, gut health, and exercise recovery.’
British growers are currently trying to increase production to meet rising demand. Over the next few years, major producers will increase their yields by 30 percent by planting more varieties that are suited to the British climate.
Blueberries also contain relatively few calories and a lot of fiber, which makes them popular with people looking for an alternative to sweets.
Thanks to this growing interest, blueberry growing in the UK currently contributes £481 million to the economy.
However, Britain’s blueberry growing capacity cannot yet keep up with growing demand.
Currently, British farmers produce just 6,000 tonnes of blueberries per year, during the growing season from June to September.
This means Britain has to import almost 90 percent of its blueberries from abroad.
These blueberries are mainly imported from Peru, which exported 286,000 tonnes of this fruit to the UK in 2023.
This means the fruit can be purchased outside the British growing season, but transporting it has a high carbon footprint.
Because Peru is the largest exporter of blueberries in the world, the price of the fruit can also fluctuate greatly.
British growers such as Hall Hunter (pictured) currently produce a total of 6,000 tonnes of the crop, requiring the UK to import almost 90 per cent of its blueberries
In 2023, extreme heat in Peru caused yields to plummet and led to a major berry shortage across the US.
As supply diminished, prices rose 60 percent to $6 (£4.70) a pound.
The International Blueberry Organization said in a report published last year that prices eventually stabilized, but warned that current growing patterns may not be sustainable.
In order to produce more blueberries domestically, British farmers are currently ramping up production.
Within a few years, British farms will increase UK output by a third, reducing dependence on international imports.
Tesco says it is now working with Hall Hunter, a British grower responsible for almost half of the UK’s total production.
Over the past five years, Hall Hunter has quadrupled its yield and can now produce 2,500 tons of blueberries per year.
Jim Floor, Managing Director of Hall Hunter, said: ‘Demand for blueberries is higher than ever and due to the current popularity we are planting an additional 55 hectares. Once the plants are fully grown we should be able to produce around 4,000 tonnes of fruit.’
Mr Floor also says the company is starting to introduce new crop varieties that are better suited to the UK’s cold, wet climate.
He says these crops ‘will include both early and later maturing plants, extending the current UK growing season from mid-June to mid-September.’