In 2022, Morocco became the fourth largest exporter of fresh blueberries in the world, leaving behind even the United States.
In total, Morocco exported 53,000 tons of fresh blueberries last year, and only three countries managed to exceed this volume. These were Peru with 277,000 tonnes, Chile with 105,000 tonnes and Spain with 87,000 tonnes.
It should be noted that exports from the Netherlands in the 11 months of last year were higher than those from Morocco, amounting to 104,000 tonnes. However, if the volume of re-exports is taken into account, the actual result of the Netherlands will be much lower since it imported 130,000 tonnes of fresh blueberries during this period.
Recall that Morocco was the world’s seventh largest exporter of cultivated blueberries in 2017, behind the United States, Canada and Argentina. Annual exports of blueberries from Morocco were then 15,600 tons, that is to say that since that date, the kingdom has multiplied them by more than three.
Initially, more than 90% of Moroccan exports were destined for Spain, which re-exported Moroccan blueberries, thus lengthening its sales season.
However, Spain’s share of Moroccan exports fell to 36% from 2017 to 2022, and the bulk of exports now go directly to blueberry-consuming countries. The main destination for blueberry sales from Morocco is the EU, along with the UK and Norway.
Since 2017, total exports of fresh blueberries from Morocco to countries in the Middle East and Southeast Asia have also increased 9.5 times to reach 1,900 tons. Until 2022, Russia was also an attractive destination for Moroccan blueberry exporters, but due to the invasion of Ukraine and the ensuing sanctions and economic downturn, Russia only imported 400 tons Last year. For comparison, annual exports in 2020-2021 from Morocco to the Russian market were 1,200 to 1,300 tons.
