{"id":23245,"date":"2025-09-18T13:30:46","date_gmt":"2025-09-18T13:30:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/?p=23245"},"modified":"2025-09-18T13:32:56","modified_gmt":"2025-09-18T13:32:56","slug":"the-zimbabwe-blueberry-export-niche-slowly-lionizing-china-market","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/2025\/09\/18\/the-zimbabwe-blueberry-export-niche-slowly-lionizing-china-market\/","title":{"rendered":"The Zimbabwe blueberry export niche slowly lionizing China market"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Two major developments have lately turned the spoke for blueberry exports from Zimbabwe to China, including export authorization on September 4, 2025.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.heraldonline.co.zw\/new-measures-pave-way-for-zim-blueberries-in-chinese-market\/\"><u>Zimbabwe Herald Online<\/u><\/a>\u00a0on September 17, 2025, the authorization touches on phytosanitary protocols for growers and exporters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To meet the aseptic mandate, shippers must only pack fruits from registered orchards and the produce ought to be free of infection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Fresh fruit must transit at cold temperatures of either 1.11\u00baC, 1.67\u00baC or 2.22\u00baC, depending on the voyage duration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water &amp; Rural Development also suggested that other food regulations within China may apply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-tariff-free-access\"><strong>Tariff-free Access<\/strong><strong><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>This development comes hand-in-hand with a surprise&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thezimbabwean.co\/2025\/09\/zimbabwe-beats-south-african-in-securing-zero-tariff-access-for-blueberries-to-china\/\"><u>zero-tariff<\/u><\/a>&nbsp;&nbsp;export agreement that has sidelined major exporter, South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Duty-free dispatches add a silver lining to Harare\u2019s authorization to export blueberries to Beijing because they will encourage trade growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Analysts speculate that this instantaneous free entry owes to Zimbabwe\u2019s traditional shipments to Hong Kong where China must\u2019ve often studied quality.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Zimbabwe is one of four nations with free access to China\u2019s blueberry market, &nbsp;the others being Peru, Chile and Uruguay.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Most other entrants command stiff duties averaging 30% that limit full market penetration, thus benefiting the duty-free club.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The next possible event following the export agreement is the rapid increase in shipments accruing to Zimbabwe\u2019s uniquely&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/70-foods-that-start-with-b\/\"><u>tasty berries<\/u><\/a>. Furthermore, the South African country expects to reap 12,000 tonnes of the fruit in 2025, up by 4,000 tonnes in 2024.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Blueberry demand in China in turn has leap-frogged from&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsday.co.zw\/local-news\/article\/200045738\/historic-quantum-leap-as-zim-blueberries-head-to-china\"><u>665 tonnes<\/u><\/a>&nbsp;(2005) to almost 39,000 t (2024) from healthy consumerism.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The two countries now boast two consecutive fruit trade deals, following the avocado protocol of 2024 that introduced&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/2024\/09\/10\/zimbabwe-becomes-africas-fourth-avocado-shipper-to-China\"><u>Zim avocados to China<\/u><\/a>. And looking at the statistics below, it is almost certain that blueberries will quickly establish a niche there, too.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-zimbabwe-blueberry-statistics\"><strong>Zimbabwe Blueberry&nbsp;<\/strong><strong>Statistics&nbsp;<\/strong><strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Although Zimbabwe is an emerging source, its blueberry sector is experiencing exponential growth, catapulting production into the top 15 worldwide (2022). It harvests about a quarter of the blueberries the top shipper in Africa, South Africa produces. While South Africa averages&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/statranker.org\/agriculture\/top-10-blueberry-producing-countries-in-2025\/\"><u>35,000 tonnes&nbsp;<\/u><\/a>or the 10<sup>th<\/sup>&nbsp;highest worldwide output, as of 2023, Zimbabwe produces 8,000 tonnes, as of 2024. This volume could grow rapidly as the country\u2019s Horticulture Recovery and Growth Plan aims to turn blueberries into a&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsday.co.zw\/local-news\/article\/200045738\/historic-quantum-leap-as-zim-blueberries-head-to-china\"><u>$2-billion&nbsp;<\/u><\/a>mega sector.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Has Zimbabwe\u2019s blueberry sector grown much?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Between 2021 and 2022, the Zimbabwe blueberry production grew by 72%, then in the 2022-23 timeline by 42%. This is based on the following fresh blueberry output data snapshot by the&nbsp;<a href=\"#data\/QCL\"><u>FAOSTAT<\/u><\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><tbody><tr><td><strong>Year<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>Fresh Blueberries Output [tonnes]<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>Annual&nbsp;<\/strong><strong>Growth<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><tr><td>2023<\/td><td>2,800<\/td><td>&#8211;<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>2022<\/td><td>1,868<\/td><td>72%<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>2021<\/td><td>1,140<\/td><td>42%<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Fig:\u00a0<em>fresh blueberries production in Zimbabwe, 2021-23<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>How many hectares are under blueberries in Zim<\/strong>?&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Like production, Zimbabwe\u2019s blueberry area has been growing by leaps and bounds in the three-year timeline ending 2023. In 2021 there were 285 hectares (ha) under the fruit, in 2022&nbsp;<em>328 ha<\/em>&nbsp;and in 2023&nbsp;<a href=\"#data\/QCL\"><u>506 ha.<\/u><\/a>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Where does Zimbabwe export its blueberries?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The bulk of Zimbabwe\u2019s blueberry shipments end up in neighboring South Africa, most probably for re-export. The rest go to the European Union, the UK, the Middle East, Hong Kong, Russia and as of late 2025, China. Even though&nbsp;China is the world\u2019s largest producer of blueberries it is also the largest consumer, which forces imports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the last five years ending 2024, Zimbabwe\u2019s blueberry exports grew by 63% or 1,200 tonnes a year. In 2022, foreign dispatches hit&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/africa.businessinsider.com\/local\/markets\/zimbabwe-is-the-leading-exporter-of-blueberries-in-the-world-according-to-a-new-study\/y74wl56?op=1\"><u>over 5,000 tonnes<\/u><\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Two major developments have lately turned the spoke for blueberry exports from Zimbabwe to China, including export authorization on September 4, 2025.&nbsp; According to the\u00a0Zimbabwe Herald Online\u00a0on September 17, 2025, the authorization touches on phytosanitary protocols for growers and exporters. To meet the aseptic mandate, shippers must only pack fruits from registered orchards and the&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":23246,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v16.3 (Yoast SEO v20.5) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The Zimbabwe blueberry export niche slowly lionizing China market - Selina Wamucii | Food &amp; Agriculture News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/2025\/09\/18\/the-zimbabwe-blueberry-export-niche-slowly-lionizing-china-market\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Zimbabwe blueberry export niche slowly lionizing China market - Selina Wamucii | Food &amp; Agriculture News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Two major developments have lately turned the spoke for blueberry exports from Zimbabwe to China, including export authorization on September 4, 2025.&nbsp; According to the\u00a0Zimbabwe Herald Online\u00a0on September 17, 2025, the authorization touches on phytosanitary protocols for growers and exporters. 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