In this installment of the ‘Agronometrics In Charts’ series, Cristian Crespo F. illustrates how the U.S. market is evolving. Each week the series looks at a different horticultural commodity, focusing on a specific origin or topic visualizing the market factors that are driving change.

This year, blackberry prices in the U.S. market began much higher than those reported last year despite the fact that the volumes of fruit remained relatively constant. The differences between the two years reached 187 percent, in favor of 2021. The prices of week 15 this year saw a historical maximum of US$22.10 per 12x6 container, which can be seen in the following graph.

These high prices can mostly be attributed to the increasing demand for blackberries and berries in general due to increased consumption of fruits rich in vitamin C and antioxidants as immune system boosters amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

However, prices began to significantly decrease until week 21 and then stabilize until week 27, where they began to rise until week 30. The curious thing is that this occurred when less fruit was sent from Mexico to the U.S.

After this, prices began to free fall which happened until last week and continued without stopping. Looking at the graph below, we can see that in week 33 of this year, the average blackberry prices were around $8.98 per container, showing a 51 percent decrease year on year.

Average reported blackberry prices in the U.S. market (USD)

(Source: USDA Market News via Agronometrics) [Agronometrics users can view this chart with live updates here]

If we look at the graph below, in relation to blackberry volumes in the U.S. market, you can see that they have remained quite similar when comparing 2021 with 2020, as we have already mentioned.

As of week 29, a significant volume increase year on year has been reported and had continued until week 32. In week 32 blackberry volumes in the U.S. market were slightly under 2.5 million kilograms, a 53 percent increase year on year.

Blackberry volume in the U.S. market (KG)

(Source: USDA Market News via Agronometrics) [Agronometrics users can view this chart with live updates here]

This volume surge is due to increased shipments from Mexico, California and Guatemala. We will have to see what happens to future prices as Guatemalan and Californian seasons begin to wind down while Mexico starts again in a significant way.

In our ‘In Charts’ series, we work to tell some of the stories that are moving the industry. Feel free to take a look at the other articles by clicking here.

You can keep track of the markets daily through Agronometrics, a data visualization tool built to help the industry make sense of the huge amounts of data that professionals need to access to make informed decisions. If you found the information and the charts from this article useful, feel free to visit us at www.agronometrics.com where you can easily access these same graphs, or explore the other 20 fruits we currently track.