In this episode of “The Business of Blueberries,” host Kasey Cronquist, president of the U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council (USHBC) and the North American Blueberry Council (NABC), is joined by Peter McPherson, general manager, Berry Category International, for Costa Group. For the first time in four years, the International Blueberry Organization was able to bring together blueberry industry stakeholders from around the world for a summit recently. McPherson shares his insights and experiences from the summit held in Poland this summer. 

“Poland, this year, I think provides the best outline of all the activities that the blueberry industry needs to look at. All the challenges, where we are today, where we need to go, how we stack up in the berry business, and I think that was one of the underlying positives that came out.” - Peter McPherson

 Topics covered include: 

• An introduction to McPherson and his work.
• A discussion of McPherson’s insights and experiences from this summer’s International Blueberry Organization’s Summit.
• A review of recent updates from Poland and Ukraine, and blueberry growth in that region.

Crop Report

The Blueberry Crop Report is an update on crop conditions and markets throughout important blueberry growing areas. Today you’ll hear from TJ Havner in Oregon, Brody Shcropp in Michigan, Jason Smith in British Columbia and Luis Vegas in Peru. This was recorded on August 16, 2023.