Quick Facts About the PEI Blueberry Industry

• Wild lowbush blueberries are only produced commercially in certain parts of the world. PEI is one of these places, along with Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec, and Maine.
• There are upwards of 125 full and part-time wild lowbush blueberry growers in PEI.
• The majority of PEI wild blueberries are produced in the West Prince area (Tignish), Eastern Kings area (Souris), Mount Stewart/Morell and Southern Kings Country (Wood Islands, Mt. Vernon, Murray River area).
• The industry has grown significantly over the past several years and is now considered a major horticultural crop in Prince Edward Island.
• PEI has natural conditions for the development of wild lowbush blueberries for maximum growth potential and land development. Lowbush blueberries are not planted, but are encouraged to cover a field with sustainable land management practices.
• A mature wild lowbush blueberry field produces maximum yields are second year, so half the total acreage produces fruit every second year (i.e. 5,000 acres). The provincial average yield for a typical blueberry field is approximately 2,000 pounds/acre. However, mature, well established fields can yield as much as 8,000 lbs/acre under good growing conditions.
• PEI currently has approximately 13,000 acres of wild lowbush blueberries. Of this total, approximately 5,000 acres are harvested annually, plus an additional 5,000 acres are in the non-bearing (sprout year) of the cycle, with an additional 3,000 acres under development.
• Blueberry growers are heavily reliant on honey bees to produce maximum yields. In total, PEI blueberry growers use approximately 5,000 honey bee colonies in their fields during the month of June. Approximately half of these colonies are imported from Nova Scotia each year.
• Some blueberry growers also use commercial bumble bees and alfalfa leaf-cutter bees in their fields.
• Wild lowbush blueberry harvest begins mid-August and ends mid-September each year.
• PEI has one blueberry processing facility within the province (Jasper Wyman & Son) near Morell.
• The majority of PEI’s blueberry crop is sold to three main processors: Wyman (PEI), Oxford Frozen Foods (NS) and Rainbow Farms (NS).
• The bulk (99%) of PEI’s wild lowbush blueberries are sold by processors as an ingredient in many common foods such as cereals, yogurt, muffins and other healthy, tasty foods. Approximately 1% of PEI’s crop is sold as fresh fruit.
• PEI produced 10.3 million pounds of wild lowbush blueberries in 2009. This is a significant increase compared to 1967 when PEI produced only 710,000 lbs of wild blueberries!
• The wild lowbush blueberry is promoted worldwide by the Wild Blueberry Association of North America (WBANA).
• The wild lowbush blueberry producers in PEI are represented by the PEI Wild Blueberry Growers’ Association.