Colombia’s goldenberry symbolized the country’s push into high-value fruit exports. Now, it faces a turf war at home from a fruit with far greater global recognition: the blueberry. While blueberry cultivation has expanded rapidly across Colombia over the past decade, producers say the industry remains far from becoming a fully fledged export powerhouse.

Colombia currently has close to 1,000 hectares planted with blueberries, concentrated mainly in the Andean departments of Boyacá and Cundinamarca, which together account for almost the entire cultivated area. Smaller projects are emerging in Antioquia and other regions, bringing national production to an estimated 20,000 tonnes a year.

That marks a dramatic rise from just 40 hectares planted a decade ago. In the past two years alone, between 150 and 200 additional hectares have been planted, reflecting growing interest from investors and farmers seeking alternatives to traditional crops.

Yet despite this momentum, industry leaders warn that Colombia’s blueberry sector still lacks the scale, investment and coordination needed to compete seriously in international markets.

“Blueberries are one of the fastest-growing fruit crops in Colombia, but we are still very far from consolidating a true export agroindustry,” said Camilo Lozano, vice-president of Asocolblue, the national blueberry growers’ association, in an interview with La República.

Lozano argues that Colombia’s potential far exceeds its current footprint. “The country could easily reach 5,000, 6,000 or even 10,000 hectares,” he said. “But that won’t happen overnight. We need more investment, greater scale and the entry of larger producers.”

Peru offers a stark comparison. In 2012, Peruvian blueberry exports were worth just US$400,000. Today, they exceed US$3 billion, supported by more than 22,000 hectares of plantations. Colombia, Lozano notes, shares many of the same advantages that fuelled Peru’s rise: favourable soils, competitive labour costs, efficient logistics and the ability to produce year-round.

“These are the same conditions that made Colombia the world’s leading exporter of cut flowers,” he said.

Blueberries are particularly attractive because they are already deeply embedded in global consumer markets. In North America and Europe, they are a staple product, unlike many tropical fruits that require costly marketing campaigns to build demand.

“In the United States and Canada, consumers already know blueberries,” Lozano said. “You don’t have to explain what they are or how to eat them.”

At present, around 90 per cent of Colombia’s Arandano exports are destined for the United States, with Europe a distant second. Asia remains largely out of reach due to phytosanitary barriers and long shipping times, which can exceed 30 days by sea.

Even in established markets, Colombia struggles to meet minimum volume requirements. International buyers often request several containers per week, but domestic supply remains too fragmented to deliver consistently.

“Today, we get clients asking for five containers a week, and we can’t even fill one,” Lozano admitted. “Only two companies export blueberries by sea on a regular basis.”

The domestic market, however, tells a different story. According to industry estimates, formal blueberry sales in Colombia exceed 200 billion pesos (about US$50 million) annually. Imports — mainly from Peru and Chile — add another 50 billion pesos, highlighting the gap between local demand and national production.

That imbalance underscores both the opportunity and the challenge facing Colombian growers. While consumption is rising, domestic supply remains insufficient, and many producers lack the technical expertise and capital required to expand efficiently.

Asocolblue, which brings together 28 producers, has repeatedly warned that blueberries are not a crop for improvisation. Establishing a commercial plantation requires high upfront investment, technical knowledge, strict quality standards and long-term planning.

“This is not traditional agriculture,” Lozano said. “It’s an agro-industrial business.”

The association operates technical, export and marketing committees aimed at professionalising the sector and ensuring that growth does not come at the expense of productivity or sustainability.

For farmers who succeed, the rewards can be significant. Blueberries offer relatively stable international prices and allow producers to integrate into global supply chains, generating employment, foreign exchange and long-term income. “It allows the producer to make a qualitative leap — from farmer to agro-industrialist,” Lozano said. “It’s essentially an agricultural factory.”

For now, Colombia’s farmers across the Altiplanto Boyacense are enjoying their blueberry boom, but the story is more one of promise than parity with terrirorial rivals, such the uchuva and feijoa. Whether it can replicate the success of its flower industry — or Peru’s meteoric rise — will depend on how quickly investment, scale and coordination catch up with ambition.

Boyacá is a department best understood at walking pace. Here, the Colombian Andes rise into cold, luminous páramos, colonial towns cling to mountainsides, and trails once traced by the Muisca people now lead modern hikers through landscapes where history and geography feel inseparable. For those who hike not only to conquer summits but to understand place, Boyacá offers one of Colombia’s richest outdoor experiences.

Landmarks on the Trail

Many hikes in Boyacá double as cultural journeys. The Iguaque Sanctuary of Flora and Fauna, near Villa de Leyva, is among the most emblematic. Its winding ascent leads to the Laguna de Iguaque, a glacial lake revered by the Muisca as the birthplace of humanity. The trail passes cloud forest and páramo, with frailejones standing like silent sentinels, before opening onto a stark, spiritual landscape at nearly 3,800 meters.

Further east, the Sierra Nevada del Cocuy (Güicán) dominates the horizon with snowcapped peaks that feel almost Patagonian in scale. Hiking here is more demanding and tightly regulated to protect fragile ecosystems, but routes toward Ritacuba Blanco, Pan de Azúcar, and the Laguna Grande de la Sierra reward experienced trekkers with glaciers, alpine lakes and some of the most dramatic scenery in Colombia.

For gentler walks, the trails around Monguí, one of Colombia’s most beautiful heritage towns, weave together cobblestone paths, pine forests and views of the high plains. Nearby, the Puente Real de Calicanto, built in the 18th century, connects hikers directly to the colonial past.

Boyacá is defined by altitude. Much of the department sits above 2,500 meters, and hiking here is an exercise in patience and acclimatization. The páramo ecosystems – vast, windswept highlands unique to the northern Andes – are both austere and alive, capturing mist and feeding rivers that sustain millions downstream.

Beyond El Cocuy, lesser-known summits and ridgelines around Soatá, Tenza Valley, and Pisba Páramo offer solitude and long-distance views across folds of green and gold. Pisba, in particular, combines natural beauty with historical weight: these were the cold, punishing routes crossed by Simón Bolívar’s troops during the independence campaign of 1819.

Walking Through History

Boyacá is Colombia’s historic heartland. Trails often pass near sites central to the nation’s founding story, from the Puente de Boyacá, where independence was sealed, to rural paths that once carried armies, traders and pilgrims. Hiking here feels layered with memory: pre-Hispanic sacred sites, colonial estates, and republican battlefields coexist within a single day’s walk.

In Villa de Leyva, hikes extend naturally from stone plazas, monasteries and fossil fields, where ancient marine remains remind visitors that these mountains were once under the sea.

Gastronomy After the Climb

Hiking in Boyacá builds an appetite, and the region’s cuisine is designed to restore. The undisputed classic is cocido boyacense, a hearty stew of tubers, grains and meats – perfect after a cold day on the trail. Arepas boyacenses, thick and slightly sweet with curd cheese, are trail food in themselves, often eaten warm with coffee or hot chocolate.

Highland dairy culture shines in fresh cheeses and cuajada con melao, while trout from cold rivers and lakes – especially near Laguna de Tota – offers a lighter reward after long walks. The local market in Aquitania brims with potatoes, garlic, onions and corn, underscoring how closely food – and plenty of cold beer – is tied to altitude and soil.

Boyacá is not about speed or spectacle alone. It is about immersion – into thin air, deep history and a landscape that demands respect. Hiking here is as much a cultural act as a physical one, a way to understand how mountains have shaped ancient rituals and modern-day life.