With the ever-expanding global reach of blueberries, more companies are using the fruit to experiment with new and innovative products that highlight the best qualities of blueberries. On this episode of the “Business of Blueberries,” we discuss the market possibilities for blueberries in global consumer packaged goods.

Hosts Kasey Cronquist, president of the U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council (USHBC) and the North American Blueberry Council (NABC), and Alicia Adler, vice president of global business development for USHBC and NABC, are joined by Lynn Dornblaser, director of innovation & insight at Mintel and Chef Dina Paz, culinary director at Sterling-Rice Group (SRG).

“What’s important is to look and see what challenger brands are doing – those are the little companies. Quite often, they come into existence because someone is passionate about an idea and they decide they gotta [make a product]. Look to see what’s going on with the small companies that are doing some experimenting, look to see what’s happening [across the food landscape], especially on social media, and especially with younger consumers.” - Lynn Dornblaser 

“Blueberries already come with this really nutrient-dense, health halo story around it. The good thing about that is we want to see that across so many different products and categories in the CPG space … [blueberries'] functionality can be anything from very health forward … to really indulgent… you can play with it in just about any category. ” - Chef Dina Paz

Topics covered include: 

• How innovations and trends get shared across the consumer packaged goods industry. 
• Trends gaining traction and how they can be applied to blueberries.
• The versatility of blueberries and how they straddle both healthy and indulgent food trends. 
• Trends vs. fads and how to tell the difference between the two. 

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The Blueberry Crop Report is an update on crop conditions and markets throughout North and South America. In this episode, you’ll hear from Luis Vegas in Peru, Bill Steed in California, and Ken Patterson in Florida. This was recorded on April 7, 2021.

Marketing Boost

Providing professional and attention-grabbing marketing resources for the blueberry industry is one of the main functions of USHBC. On this week’s Marketing Boost, USHBC/NABC Vice President of Marketing and Communications Jennifer Sparks discusses the latest call to action: Brain Health Month. View the toolkit here.