IBO Summit Peru 2027: From a Bold Bet to Global Leadership

By Miguel Bentín, ProArandanos President

Hosting the IBO Summit in Peru in 2027 will have special significance, given the journey that has made us the world’s leading blueberry exporter and what we can now contribute from that position. The scale of our supply gives us a responsibility we take very seriously: to support the healthy development of the category. Meeting here with colleagues from other producing countries will be an opportunity to share in that work and address the challenges ahead together.

Just thirteen years ago, in 2013, a handful of us from Peru attended the third IBO gathering in Santiago, Chile, where we shared our first steps with a crop we were only beginning to explore. There were good reasons for enthusiasm, but also for skepticism, at such an early stage that the Peruvian Blueberry Growers and Exporters Association (ProArándanos) would only be founded the following year, in 2014.

Since then, our annual exports have grown from around 1,500 metric tons to the 383,000 recorded in the 2025–26 season. That growth built on the path Peru’s agricultural export pioneers had opened with asparagus, grapes and other crops. From that foundation, we developed our own experience, learning from growers in other countries who generously shared their knowledge and drawing on the drive of those willing to invest and start businesses when there was still so much to understand.

That bet has created opportunities for our people to get ahead and is part of a transformation blueberries are bringing to growing regions around the world. In Peru, this translates into around 500,000 direct and indirect jobs and people developing their skills, improving their quality of life and opening up new possibilities for their families. Those who work in this industry have also built their own paths forward, and sustaining those opportunities gives us a shared reason to strengthen our competitiveness across all producing countries.

Quality and efficiency take on a broader meaning in this context, because consistently good fruit helps turn a purchase into a habit. Genetics have been crucial to improving that experience, alongside growing practices and careful handling all the way to destination, while expectations continue to rise and require us to keep pace. We need to keep improving how we produce, using water, soil, energy and other resources responsibly and looking after working conditions, so that the value we deliver to consumers sustains a healthy industry that can continue creating opportunities.

All of us who grow blueberries around the world share an interest in seeing more people choose them and make them part of their diets. The IBO brings us together around that purpose and encourages the exchange of information and knowledge to help us make better decisions. Every producing country has experience to contribute that can help us better understand markets, increase blueberry consumption in all its forms and strengthen our ability to respond to production, trade, logistics and climate challenges. A good example is our experience with El Niño in 2023 and the uncertainty we face in 2026 over how it will develop and what its impact will be, reminding us how much exchanging knowledge across producing countries can help us assess risks and draw on what we have learned together.

With that in mind, we aim to make IBO Summit Peru 2027 the most significant since the organization was founded. We will make our fields, teams and experience available for this exchange among peers, with the intention that these conversations raise new questions, bring together people with shared interests and lead to collaborations that continue to develop long after the event.

We look forward to welcoming you with enthusiasm, so that this gathering helps us make better decisions and move forward together in developing the category. We will be proud to host you and show you around some of the world’s finest blueberry operations, while also enjoying the best cuisine on the planet. When it comes to blueberries, we’re open to debate; when it comes to food, you know what we Peruvians are like.

IBO Editorial