Chile exported approximately 92,900 tons of fresh blueberries in the 2025/26 season, up 2.7% from the prior year and above initial estimates, according to the IBO Global Blueberry Report 2026. The headline growth number obscures a major geographic shift: U.S. shipments fell 13%, attributed to tariff and trade factors, while Europe surged 20% and Canada jumped 32%. New variety exports grew 14% and now account for 24% of total Chilean fresh blueberry exports, up from 21% the prior season.
The season started earlier and was more concentrated than usual due to higher accumulated growing degree days, which pushed the Duke variety harvest roughly 20 days early — resulting in lower dry matter, smaller sizing, and softer fruit early on. Processing is increasingly absorbing fruit and varieties that no longer qualify for fresh-market programs, with frozen blueberry exports reaching 72,464 tons in 2025, up 46%.
For North American buyers, the 13% decline in Chilean fresh shipments to the U.S. is worth understanding in context: this is happening as Peru's blueberry crop is also under El Niño pressure. The combined effect on import availability and pricing during the Southern Hemisphere supply window — roughly November through February — is a situation category managers should be actively modeling right now.