Costa China's Yunnan Blueberry Area Reaches 600 Hectares as Berry Business Turns Ten
Costa Group has marked ten years of berry growing in southwest China, with its Yunnan blueberry operation now spanning roughly 600 hectares across five production areas, the company said in a statement on 26 October.
The Australian grower and marketer celebrated the anniversary with an event in Kunming attended by chief executive Marc Werner, chief financial officer Wayne Johnston and Leon Van Biljon, chief operating officer of Berry International. Representatives from the Australian Consulate-General in Chengdu, the Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade), Driscoll's and core suppliers also took part.
From 25 hectares to 600 hectares
Costa planted its first Yunnan blueberry farm in 2016 in Shiping County, Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture, on 25 hectares. Later that same year it added 88 hectares at the Manlai Manle farm in Menghai County, Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture.
Over the following decade the footprint spread north and west, and blueberry blocks now sit in Menghai, Baoshan, Xiangyun, Honghe and Lijiang. By 2026 the company's total planted area in China had reached about 600 hectares — roughly 9,000 mu — more than twenty times the size of that first farm.
Why five sites instead of one
Yunnan's low-latitude, high-altitude climate is the reason berries can be harvested here in winter and early spring, when domestic supply is thin and imported fruit from South America dominates shelves. Splitting production across a south-to-north, low-to-high elevation chain stretches that window further: the warm southern valleys pick first, and the cooler highland sites follow, so the same company can supply fruit over a much longer season.
For a business built on fresh-market blueberries, 600 hectares translates into predictable volumes and a more controllable supply chain — and a stronger hand when negotiating with wholesalers and retailers.
What the next decade is likely to test
The anniversary messaging focused less on hectares than on durability: whether the Yunnan model can be made consistent and repeatable. That is the harder question. Blueberry plantings across China have expanded quickly, and early-season regions now compete with each other as much as with imports. Growers in Yunnan are increasingly judged on variety renewal, berry size and eating quality, post-harvest cold chain and brand premium rather than on area alone.
For home gardeners, the practical lesson from a commercial operation of this scale is straightforward: blueberries reward attention to soil acidity and consistent moisture far more than they reward size of planting. A single healthy bush, properly mulched and watered, will outperform a row of stressed ones.
Source: Costa Group company statement, 26 October 2026. Image: Costa Group.