Gramm weighs up Chinese potential

Gramm Agropecuaria is preparing to make its first shipment to China in mid-September following the opening of that market to Argentine blueberries at the end of last year.

The company has registered its Blue Way brand in China and plans to develop a new logo and specifically for this market.

Gramm has made significant investments at its farms and packhouse this season, replanting old fields with newer, improved varieties and acquiring new packing and sorting machinery that speeds up the packing process and enables pack fruit to the specific requirements of each markets.

“The addition of a new packing line means we now have the capacity to pack all the fruit that is harvested each day in just eight hours, dramatically reducing the cooling time and allowing us to achieve better quality and shelf life,” said general manager Gabriel Wasserman.

“At the same time, a new Optical IQ sorter means we can classify the fruit by colour, defect, firmness and, most importantly, size, which is important for the Chinese market which requests 16mm and 18mm berries.”

Earlier this year, Gramm became the first Argentine blueberry producer to be awarded the prestigious quality label, ‘Argentine Food: a natural choice’.