With wine being the highest value-added product for wild blueberries, we believe a Maine wild blueberry wine industry could help stabilize and reverse the declining fortunes of Maine’s wild blueberry farms.

Five companies own more than 60% of the blueberry acreage (38,660 reported on the 2017 USDA National Agriculture Statistics Survey), leaving the rest to small family farms. The future of these small farms is in doubt as the inflation-adjusted field price for wild blueberries has declined ~36% over the last 20 years due to Canada’s increase in wild blueberry production and the economics of cultivated blueberries farmed around the world.

If Maine wild blueberry wine production grew to the volume of Napa Cabernet, roughly double the entire crop of wild blueberries would be needed (72,423 tons of Napa Cabernet v. 38,800 tons Maine wild blueberries in 2022).

We are not in Napa and wild blueberries aren’t Cabernet so this may sound unrealistic, but look what happened with cider: 25 years ago the U.S. drank 250,000 gallons a year–today cider consumption is over 25 million gallons.

There is a natural market in Maine for wild blueberry wine and a national market with potential to explore. We figure a wild blueberry wine industry is worth trying to build.

This idea of making wild blueberry wine isn’t new but now may be the moment to connect with consumers. Interest in healthy, high antioxidant, moderate alcohol beverages is strong and blueberries enjoy a tremendous reputation as a superfood. Maine has earned a national reputation for food and drink and natural products. Wild blueberry wine ought to be at the front of the pack.

There’s a rule of thumb in the wine business that a bottle of wine costs about a hundredth of a ton of grapes. Napa Cabernet sells for ~$90/bottle and a ton of Cabernet grapes cost $9,000. If wild blueberries cost $2,000 per ton (and they don’t) a bottle can sell for $20. A winery would have to be at scale for this to work, but profitability and sustainability are fundamentally possible.

This is the time to build a wild blueberry wine industry here in Maine. A national market awaits development while small family farms hang in the balance. Let us act on this opportunity together, now.