Genetics, Scale, and Strategy: The Three Decades Shifting Mexico’s Blueberry Industry
Por Miguel Angel Curiel, Presidente de Aneberries y Vicepresidente de Operaciones y Director General de Driscoll’s en México
As we finish the 2025-2026 Mexico Blueberry Season in June with 74 million kgs exported, we see clear signs that the Mexican Blueberry industry is recovering in hectares, volume and, most importantly, high quality fruit for the winter/spring market in North America. After reaching peak export volumes in the 2021-2022 Season, close to 90 million kgs, the Mexican Blueberry Industry dropped to a low 62 million kgs in the 2023-2024. A more competitive market, with Peru coming into the picture in the fall and winter, higher production costs and a more demanding consumer forced the Mexican blueberry industry to reinvent itself.
Taking a historical perspective on the Mexican Blueberry industry, we can say that, even though there were some trials happening in the late 90’s, the industry started with serious blueberry plantings in Central Mexico in the early 2000’s when entrepreneurs and industry pioneers trialed plantings in the states of Michoacan, Jalisco and Colima, states in the central west coast of Mexico. In these early days, most of the plantings were made with Biloxi. At the time, Biloxi naturally produced peak volumes in the spring, while some trials in regions with cooler weather were showing the possibility of production in the fall. In 2007, an important project in the state of Jalisco with the purpose of planting 3000 hectares in the region started what is called the “blueberry boom” in Central Mexico, this project was a coordination between government, marketing companies and plant propagation companies. By 2010 there were close to 5,000 hectares planted, 90% of blueberry plantings were Biloxi in Central Mexico.
Between 2010 and 2020, we went through a significant industry growth we supported by the introduction of new genetics in Mexico offering improved yields, improved size and, most importantly, improved flavor. The industry peaked at 15,000 hectares by 2020. During this decade, the most important berry companies in North America had an interest in Mexico through direct investments or key partnerships with local growers.
During the last 5-6 years, having the 2020 COVID pandemia as a reference point, the Mexican Blueberry industry is going through it’s 3rd genetic evolution. Genetic companies in the industry are bringing to mexico the best varietals available that are suited to the Mexico Agroclimatic conditions. Significant improvements in yields, kilos per plant, are helping counter the cost pressures the industry is going through with a tighter labor market and unfavorable exchange rate. Increased fruit size in these genetics has been well received by consumers on the end of the change, but also, as important, by those collaborators that pick the fruit making easier to pick and pack the blueberries. The most important advance we have seen during this 3rd genetic evolution is the overall improvement in flavor from the offering coming from the Mexican Blueberry industry.
During these three decades, we have seen a path towards a consolidated blueberry industry in Mexico where larger, scalable, operations will be better suited to serve the market. As consumers become more demanding on flavor, quality, condition and appearance, consistency in the product offered is becoming a right-to-play. The Mexican Blueberry industry that has traditionally hand-packed most of it’s production, will be pressured by customers and economic factors to move towards packing lines that deliver a more consistent product.
Of the four berries that are commercially produced in Mexico, only blueberries is the one that competes in a truly global market. The other berries (strawberries, raspberries and blackberries), because of it’s perishability, are mainly marketed within North America (Mexico, US, Canada). Traditionally, blueberry exports from Mexico have been focused in the US and Canada. Lately, however, the Mexican domestic market has become an appealing one for blueberries. Even though exports to countries outside the North American region are few (Japan, Europe, Middle East), there is an opportunity for the Mexican Blueberry industry to play a global role in the supply of blueberries during the spring season, when productions in Mexico naturally peak. The industry is working with governments to open new markets for Mexican Blueberries.
As we are prepared to start the 2026-2027 Mexico Blueberry Season with 10,000 hectares coming into production, a consolidated industry with strong players, strong genetic pools available to growers, fields with higher yields and a higher quality offering to consumers, the Mexican Blueberry Industry seems to be in the right path to become a consistent and reliable supplier to the North American and Global market during the spring, offering a high quality product that will fulfill consumer demands. We can conclude that the Mexican Blueberry Industry is building itself with strong fundamentals that will make it a long term player in the blueberry market.
IBO Editorial
