EastFruit, a digital platform specializing in horticulture business, reported that Morocco is increasing its market share in terms of blueberry exports, with the UAE being one of the regions with the fastest growth rates.
EastFruit stated that Morocco topped the list of blueberry suppliers to the UAE in the market year (MY) 2022/23 (July-June), surpassing South Africa.
The platform recalled that Morocco has never exported a significant amount of blueberries to the UAE, noting that Moroccan producers succeeded in finding new markets outside of Europe. Subsequently, Moroccan blueberries became available in the Middle East market, particularly in the UAE.
EastFruit also stressed that between 2020 and 2021, Morocco shipped about 211 tons of blueberries to the UAE, with the number tripling and reaching 982 tons between 2022 and 2023, equivalent to $6.3 million.
In a similar context, the platform underlined that the UAE imports blueberries from twenty-two different countries, including Morocco, Peru, the Netherlands, and South Africa, recalling that a few years ago, the top three suppliers were the Netherlands, the US, and Spain.
The platform also noted that the UAE’s imports from Morocco only accounted for 2.6 %, with this percentage increasing to 36% in the MY 2022-2023, subsequently dethroning South Africa and becoming the top exporter of blueberries to the UAE.
However, EastFruit stressed that despite this rivalry on the list of suppliers, Morocco and South Africa don’t face off against one another in the real world, since in actuality, blueberries from South Africa are imported between July and December, whereas blueberries from Morocco are exported to the UAE between January and June. Thus, Morocco and South Africa produce the year-round blueberry supply for the UAE market.
Morocco ranked the seventh-largest exporter of fresh blueberries globally in 2022. Moroccan exports of cultivated blueberries also ranked fourth globally, surpassing those of the US and Canada.
In the market year 2022–23, profits from Moroccan blueberry exports reached $315 million. Only tomatoes, mandarins, and raspberries brought in more money than blueberries, which came in fourth place on the list of fruit and vegetable categories with the highest export revenues. Additionally, in the first half of 2023, tomatoes topped the list, with blueberries coming in second.