Blueberry production in Georgia was up 8.5x over 2019-23 to an estimated 4.0mn kg in 2023. The growth was driven by Government and donor programs, stimulating development of blueberry orchards.
In 2022, the planted area of blueberries reached 2,000 hectares. Although some of the harvest is already collected from 2 nd year, blueberry orchards need 4-7 years until they reach full capacity, which is estimated at 14.5ton/ha for Georgia (according to IBO). Considering current planted area, even without any further addition of other orchards, Georgia’s production will reach c.25mn kg by 2027.
Samegrelo has the largest planted area of blueberry in Georgia, containing over half of the total.
Imereti and Guria are considered as earliest producers, while harvest in Samegrelo lasts longer.
Average investment per ha of orchard was GEL 30.9k over 2017-22, while in 2022 average investment cost increased to GEL 33.3k per ha, according to Agency of Rural Development.
The export of blueberries from Georgia started in 2019 and doubles every year both in terms of quantity and value. Blueberries exports reached US$ 18.2mn and 3.0mn kg in 7M23, 2.1x higher than in 2022. As Georgia harvests blueberry in June and July, the export months are also limited to those two months. Average price started high at US$ 6.3 /kg in Jun-23 and reduced to US$ 5.5 in Jul-23 in line with global trends (see slide 8).
Russia was the main destination of exported blueberries, accounting for 91.7% of total export value in 7M23. The rest was exported to Armenia, EU countries (Germany, Poland and the Netherlands), UAE and others.
Georgian wholesale prices of blueberries started at 20 GEL/kg in early Jun-23 and declined to 5.5 GEL/kg by end-July 2023. Generally, the price seasonality is explained by harvest periods and global trends (see page 8) .
The wholesale prices of blueberry were on average 44.6% lower in 2023 compared to 2021 in GEL terms and 33.1% lower in US$ terms, partly reflecting GEL appreciation.
We project Georgia's Blueberry production to reach 25mn kg by 2027, considering already planted blueberry orchards.
Local consumption was 0.9mn kg (0.2kg per capita) in 2022 and we expect it to increase to 2.0mn kg (0.5 kg per capita) in 2027, with increased popularity and rising income.
Hence, we expect Georgia’s blueberry exports to reach 20mn kg by 2027.
Demand for imported blueberries in Russia during June-July expected to reach c. 14.4mn kg by 2027 from 3.9mn kg in 2022, considering current consumption pattern. By this time Georgia’s export capacity will reach 25mn kg, suggesting the importance of establishing itself in new export markets.
Notably, in Jun-23, Georgia started exports to Poland, the Netherlands and Germany and already gained some experience in that regard.
