Blueberry costs skyrocket because of supply shortage

Retail prices for fresh blueberries are up over 40% since earlier this summer due to the temporary supply crunch caused by unseasonably warm conditions in Peru. 

As of July 1, the average unit price for blueberries hovered at $4.09. That figured has jumped to $5.88 as of Oct. 28, representing a 43% jump in costs, according to data pulled from NielsenIQ.  

Kasey Cronquist, the president of both the US Highbush Blueberry Council and the North American Blueberry Council, told Fox Business that the shortage of the crop was caused by an "unprecedented weather situation in Peru with the El Nino effect." 

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They needed cooler temperatures to set up that crop for their harvest window. Instead, their winter felt more like summer, he noted.

"They were referring to it essentially as the endless summer," Cronquist said. It resulted in a "contraction in supply" that they hadn't seen before. 

There were two compounding issues; it caused a temporary delay in shipments, and a reduction in overall supplies. 

"We've become such a large consumer of that blueberry crop," he said. "It's definitely had an impact on the supply circumstances that consumers are seeing in a grocery store."

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In recent weeks we have started to see that supply finally rebound "because of the delays being caught up." 

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"We're starting to see the consistency of supply starting to arrive on shelves," he said. "And you should expect to see that through the remainder of the winter season."

However, if price or supply is still an issue in certain spots, he also noted that there is still an "ample supply" of frozen blueberries.