Serbia 's blueberries are becoming increasingly popular abroad. Julka Toskić, managing director of Agrobrand and manager of the Serbia Does Fruit platform, which aims to promote Serbia's fruit industry internationally, calls 2021 a good year for Serbia's blueberries .
The manager also points to the favorable conditions that boosted the export of Serbian blueberries last season: "This season was very favorable for producers and exporters, as the harvest in Serbia started at least two weeks earlier than in other European countries."
Dejan Stajić, owner and founder of a Serbian export company, is of the same opinion about the result of the past harvest. "We were very satisfied with the past season. We did everything we could to make last season more than successful."
EMERGING STRENGTHENED FROM THE CRISIS
Stajić also links back to Covid-19 and the reality of it: "The Covid-19 situation made us stronger, because we had to work harder, work harder to find workers for harvesting and transportation, and we had a lot more paperwork to do.
We have learned a lot and have continued to work to achieve the best possible results. The demand for Serbian blueberries is exceeding our expectations. Our quality and harvest times make Serbian blueberries a frontrunner."
ZERO RESIDUAL PROJECT
He then emphasizes the quality of Serbian blueberries : "As part of our strategy of developing and monitoring trends through innovation, we plan to launch a residue-free project in which we will certify a certain part of the plantation with zero residue and thus no pesticide residues. This type of production is becoming increasingly popular and there is a growing demand for pesticide residue-free products, thus ensuring health safety."
HELP FOR PRODUCERS
Interest in blueberries is also growing in Serbia. New plantations are springing up with state support. In 2020, the ministry provided aid to producers who wanted to start growing blueberries. With this measure, 150 hectares of new plantations were created. The cultivated area for all soft fruits in Serbia is 40,000 hectares. The area under cultivation at blueberry has exploded in the last five years and amounts to about 3,000 hectares.
Serbian media point out that more and more young farmers are deciding to grow this fruit because the purchase price is high and the yield is good and of high quality. The value of blueberries exported in the first eight months of last year was 20.3 million euros. This is reported by the Serbia Does Fruit platform.
NETHERLANDS AND RUSSIA THE TOP DESTINATIONS
The main destination countries include the Netherlands (10.59 million euros), Russia (3.58 million euros), Germany (2.6 million euros), Great Britain (1.59 million euros) and Poland (0.98 million euros). Within the total value of exported berries, blueberries reaches a share of 49 percent.
Source: Fruchthandel
Fruchthandel is part of the NCX Media network
