Produce Lovers’ Mexican blueberry facility almost ready

Produce Lovers, a vertically-integrated grower that ships blueberries from the Mexican state of Jalisco, is shipping conventional and organic berries through mid-June.

The company is also exporting blackberries through late May, according to a news release.

Produce lovers, which also grows and ships bell peppers and limes from Mexico, has 425 acres of conventional blueberries and 25 acres of organic blueberries. The company expects to harvest 3.5 million pounds of the berries this season. That includes Jupiter and Atlas varieties, according to the release.

The company is conducting trials of Sekoya varieties from Fall Creek Farm & Nursery.

Gerardo Lopez Gomez, commercial vice president for Produce Lovers, said the company is constructing a blueberry facility to grade, sort and pack blueberries, using equipment from BBC Technologies, a Tomra Foods segment. The facility should be completed in mid-November.

Mexican blackberry season has been “very challenging” this season, with an extended rainy season in late October that caused quality issues and a shortage of berries, according to the release.

The weather is expected to improve, however, with cooler and dryer days.

The berries are marketed under the Berry Lovers label, and sold in the U.S., Canada, United Kingdom and Japan, with an eye on expansion to continental Europe, according to the release.