Last year's combined Maine-Canadian wild blueberry crop was 166 million pounds. Merrill expects this year's combined crop to be 145 million to 150 million pounds. That should help assure movement of the crop at strong prices, according to John Sauve, executive director of the Wild Blueberry Association of North America. And Martha Stewart's recent featuring of wild blueberries in her magazine and television show is resulting in a lot of inquires, he said. But, the European bilberry crop is larger than it was last year and the value of the American dollar is working against sales in Europe, he said.
Wild blueberries are a replacement crop for European bilberries.
Sauve said he expects the Japanese market to remain flat because growers of cultivated blueberries and cranberries are making a big push in Japan. We've got some new challenges and some new competition, but, you know, it is never easy. Return to top of this page. Return to Maine Nature News home page .