Domestic blueberry industry deep-processing market demand will exceed 100 billion yuan in the future
The first China Blueberry Industry Deep Processing Summit Forum was held on May 28 in Zhuji, Zhejiang, attracting more than 700 participants including industry scholars, executives of well-known companies, and blueberry practitioners. Experts analyzing the situation believe that a grand and unprecedented blueberry industry is currently taking shape in China, and China's “blueberry era” may soon arrive; in the future, market demand for deep-processed blueberry foods will exceed 100 billion yuan.
Blueberries are an emerging nutritious health fruit, listed by the International Food and Agriculture Organization as one of humanity's “five major healthy fruits,” and recognized by the World Health Organization as a fruit with “the best nutritional value for humans.” Compared with the already mature ecological industry chains in European and American countries, China's blueberry industry is still in its early stages, with enormous market potential.
⟦NL> At present, every link in the entire blueberry industry chain, covering cultivation, processing and sales, faces unprecedented opportunities for leapfrog development. In recent years, domestic blueberry planting area and output have increased at an average annual rate of 50%. Large groups such as Moutai and Lenovo have carried out several rounds of cross-sector arrangements nationwide for blueberry cultivation, procurement and deep processing, releasing clear market signals.
He Shan'an is chairman of the International Association of Botanical Gardens. He is very optimistic about this emerging industry, but for now, the blueberry industry remains a high-investment, high-risk sector. Compared with foreign countries, domestic research on the regional adaptability of blueberry varieties is insufficient, the level of industry chain support is not high enough, market education and cultivation are inadequate, and there is still a lack of industry standards.
Yang Shufang, who had previously worked in security technology, became involved with blueberries in 2010, founded Zhejiang Lanmei Technology Co., Ltd., and began moving into agriculture. Today “Lanmei” already has five major production bases, 45,000 mu of cooperative bases, can produce more than 30 million blueberry seedlings annually, and has developed product categories such as beverages, baked leisure snacks, fruit wine, jam and dried fruit.
At this forum, some industry experts also pointed out that for now, although blueberry consumption has formed a certain foundation in places such as Zhejiang, Shandong, Shanghai and Beijing, the category market has still not taken shape, which has led to the anticipated sales atmosphere never appearing. Experts believe that currently in the field of blueberry deep processing, beverages account for the majority, and many companies are seizing market share during the golden period for beverages, but there are many regional blueberry beverage brands, and positive guidance from a leading brand is urgently needed. Experts suggest that first it is necessary to improve consumers' awareness of the value attributes of blueberries and do a good job of differentiated product positioning; at the same time, under highly matched resources, other sales channels can be combined to carry out full-category portfolio operations for blueberry products, so as to quickly open up the market.