In this episode of “The Business of Blueberries,” Kasey Cronquist, president of the U.S. Highbush Council (USHBC) and the North American Blueberry Council (NABC), is joined by Ray Starling, general counsel for the North Carolina Chamber of Commerce and an adjunct professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Starling serves North Carolina’s business community through statewide outreach, blending his lifelong passions for public service, agriculture, law and policy. He’s also the author of Farmers Versus Foodies and a former USDA Chief of Staff.

“  It’s the public policy atmosphere that can help us the most, because frankly, it's the one that puts us most at risk, depending on what our labor policies and regulatory policies are among others.” – Ray Starling

 Topics covered include: 

• An introduction to Starling and his work. 
• Starling’s journey to find his platform and voice within the public policy space to support the agriculture industry.
• An exploration of the priorities Starling believes should be addressed in public policy to support the agriculture industry, including labor policies, farmer business practices and innovation. 

Crop Report

The Blueberry Crop Report is an update on crop conditions and markets throughout important blueberry growing areas. You’ll hear from Luis Vegas in Peru and Mario Ramirez in Mexico. This was recorded on November 6, 2025.

In this episode of “The Business of Blueberries,” Kasey Cronquist, president of the U.S. Highbush Council (USHBC) and North American Blueberry Council (NABC), is joined by the finalists from the Blueberry Boost Accelerator. These interviews were recorded on Blueberry Lane at The Blueberry Convention 2025 in Seattle, Washington. Cronquist interviews each finalist about their business, and recognizes the winner and runner up of this first cohort. 

The Blueberry Boost Accelerator was launched earlier this year to fuel forward-thinking product innovation and elevate blueberries as a hero ingredient by supporting visionary startups. From functional nutrition to clean-label desserts, this inaugural cohort exemplifies the future of the power of blueberries.

“This is a tight competition. There’s some great people with some great products.” – Bob Underwood, Farmer Bob’s Beyond Berries

“We have, through this … accelerator program, connected with a company that is a CPG firm, and fingers crossed that we are able to … solidify that relationship there.” – Jerrod Gable, Sorbatto

“I eat a ton of blueberries … the superfood, the elements, the antioxidants, the prebiotic properties; it also pairs really well with the earthy tones of the fiber that we use.” – Jessica Postiglione, Bonny Fiber Supplements 

“It has been a long journey building this brand and just getting the support from the blueberry team just takes it to another level.” – Dylan Paul, Pluff 

Today’s episode features the four finalists from the 2025 Blueberry Boost Accelerator cohort:

• Jessica Postiglione of Bonny Fiber Supplements, a fiber supplement flavored with blueberries to support gut health.
• Bob Underwood of Farmer Bob’s Beyond Berries, a frozen snack product used from upcycling blueberries and other fruit.
• Dylan Paul of Pluff, a unique mousse-style blueberry dessert that’s high in protein.
• Jerrod Gable of Sorbatto,  a frozen dessert that uses highbush blueberries as its base.

Crop Report

The Blueberry Crop Report is an update on crop conditions and markets throughout important blueberry growing areas. You’ll hear from Luis Vegas in Peru and Mario Ramirez in Mexico. This was recorded on November 6, 2025.

In this episode of “The Business of Blueberries,” Kasey Cronquist, president of the U.S. Highbush Council (USHBC) and the North American Blueberry Council, is joined by Ben Escoe, president and CEO of Twin River Berries. Twin River is a vertically integrated berry company built on a foundation of family farming and global reach. Escoe leads a network of U.S. farms and partners across Mexico, Chile and Peru, working to ensure year-round availability of high-quality blueberries, raspberries and blackberries. He was first introduced to agriculture when his father started a small organic berry operation while Escoe was studying finance in college. He recognized through that experience that “farming requires a lot of innovation” and quickly developed a passion for blueberry production.

“ Success starts with our farms and with our growers. When farms succeed, we succeed. Everybody in the supply chain succeeds. … It's not all about just operating for the sake of profits. It's about building an ecosystem that works for everybody involved in genetics and markets and supply chain. Those are all tools that feed that ecosystem, and if you can make the whole system thrive, then we feel that's when you've really built something lasting.” – Ben Escoe

 Topics covered include: 

• An introduction to Escoe.
• The beginnings and evolution of Twin River Berries and how the company has grown and expanded over time. 
• The opportunity the variety Peachy Blue is providing to the blueberry industry.

Crop Report

The Blueberry Crop Report is an update on crop conditions and markets throughout important blueberry growing areas. You’ll hear from Luis Vegas in Peru and Mario Ramirez in Mexico. This was recorded on October 23, 2025. 

In this episode of “The Business of Blueberries,” Kasey Cronquist, president of the U.S. Highbush Council (USHBC) and the North American Blueberry Council (NABC), is joined by Garland Reiter Jr., chief commercial officer (CCO) for Driscoll’s of the Americas and a fourth-generation berry industry leader. Reiter is known for driving innovation, sustainability and strategic growth across the berry category, which spans many global markets. In his current role, he oversees sales strategy, market expansion, customer development and business solutions, driving revenue growth across North and South America.

“ On a daily basis, the principal part of my job is to try to share with our customers the importance of focusing on the consumer. The importance there and how you get that message to a consumer is by branding. And so sharing with them the value chain that we invest on the genetics, we invest on the supply chain, and we invest on the brand . … The job of the first clamshell is to sell the next clamshell.” – Garland Reiter Jr.

 Topics covered include: 

• An introduction to Reiter and his career in the berry industry. 
• An exploration of Driscoll’s focus on expanding and elevating the eating experience for customers.
• A look at the tiered produce offerings available in Europe, and a discussion of whether that marketing model will make its way to U.S. grocery shelves.

In this episode of “The Business of Blueberries,” Inez Be, U.S. Highbush Council (USHBC) and North American Blueberry Council (NABC) director of marketing, is joined by the finalists from the Blueberry Boost Accelerator. The accelerator was launched earlier this year to fuel forward-thinking product innovation and elevate blueberries as a hero ingredient by supporting visionary startups. From functional nutrition to clean-label desserts, the finalists exemplify the future of the power of blueberries. They’ll present their products during a “Shark Tank” style pitch competition this week at The Blueberry Convention.

“  The accelerator program was designed to discover and support emerging startups who are innovating with blueberries for their consumer products.” – Inez Be

 Blueberry Boost Accelerator Finalists: 

• Bonny Fiber Supplements has a fiber supplement flavored with blueberries to support the gastrointestinal tract.
• Beyond Berries has a frozen snack product used from upcycling a wide variety of blueberries.
• Pluff has a unique mousse-style blueberry dessert that’s high in protein.
• Sorbatto has  a blue cream frozen dessert that uses highbush blueberries as its base.

Crop Report

The Blueberry Crop Report is an update on crop conditions and markets throughout important blueberry growing areas. Today you’ll hear from Alan Schreiber in Washington, Mario Ramirez in Mexico and Luis Vegas in Peru. This was recorded on September 25, 2025. 

In this episode of “The Business of Blueberries,” Kasey Cronquist, president of the U.S. Highbush Council (USHBC) and the North American Blueberry Council (NABC), is joined by Matias Allesandrini, commercial manager at LaFrut and a member of the Chilean Blueberry Committee (CBC) Board of Directors. With his dual roles, which are both commercial and technical, Allesandrini is uniquely positioned to connect on-farm decisions with market demands, helping growers adapt and exporters stay competitive.

“ People are becoming more selective, and retailers know that repeat purchase depends on delivering a great eating experience. And I think particularly in Chile, and in the U.S., on the high-chill variety, we have a good advantage in it, which, in my personal opinion, it's where all the flavor is. So, while firmness and shelf life may guide initial selection from a logistic and commercial standpoint, flavor is what completes the picture.” - Matias Allesandrini

 Topics covered include: 

• An introduction to Allesandrini and his work. 
• An exploration of the LaFrut company, its family-based foundation and its journey toward an exporting focus.
• A discussion of the many challenges facing Chilean producers as they continue to pivot their focus to the global market.

Crop Report

The Blueberry Crop Report is an update on crop conditions and markets throughout important blueberry growing areas. Today you’ll hear from Caylan Huddleston in Oregon, Mario Ramirez in Mexico and Luis Vegas in Peru. This was recorded on September 18, 2025. 

In this episode of “The Business of Blueberries,” Kasey Cronquist, president of the U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council (USHBC) and the North American Blueberry Council (NABC), is joined by Minghua Tang, Ph.D., and Leslie Wada, Ph.D. Tang is an associate professor and the Lillian Fountain Smith Endowed Chair in the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition at Colorado State University. Wada is the USHBC’s sr. director of nutrition and health research. Tang and Wada share some exciting results found in a study regarding complementary feeding of blueberries to infants. 

“ We saw these beneficial effects of the blueberry powder compared to the placebo in terms of the immunity, and we also saw that in terms of the gut microbiome. … So after eating the blueberry for seven months and after eating the placebo for seven months with the same background diet, if you take blueberry on top of what you eat, you have less of these pathogens in your gut, and that's what we saw.” — Minghua Tang, Ph.D. 

 Topics covered include: 

• Hear about a recent study that identified significant benefits for infants after being fed blueberries.
• Discover the benefits of introducing blueberries in the complementary feeding phase of infants, and the lifelong impacts it can have on health.

Crop Report

The Blueberry Crop Report is an update on crop conditions and markets throughout important blueberry growing areas. Today you’ll hear from Caylan Huddleston in Oregon, Mario Ramirez in Mexico and Luis Vegas in Peru. This was recorded on September 11, 2025. 

In this episode of “The Business of Blueberries,” Inez Be, director of marketing at the U.S. Highbush Council (USHBC) and the North American Blueberry Council (NABC), is joined by VentureFuel Founder and CEO Fred Schonenberg. VentureFuel is an innovation advisory firm that helps major brands, such as Netflix and General Mills, unlock growth through startup collaborations. The USHBC has partnered with VentureFuel to launch the Blueberry Boost Accelerator, a first-of-its-kind program supporting emerging brands using blueberries as a prominent ingredient. Schonenberg is a frequent speaker at top industry events like SXSW and Shoptalk, and holds executive education credentials from Harvard, MIT Sloan and Columbia Business School. He shares the value and purpose of such an innovative program and the benefit it can offer blueberry stakeholders.

“  Really, it's a programmatic and high-speed way to take very promising ideas and accelerate their growth to some sort of impact. And what's really cool about what we're doing in the blueberry industry is this idea that the blueberries are the heart of this, they're the platform of innovation.” – Fred Schonenberg

 Topics covered include: 

• An introduction to Shonenberg and his work at VentureFuel.
• A description of the Blueberry Boost Accelerator and what it hopes to achieve. 
• The impact this intensive program can have for innovative startups with a blueberry focus.

Learn more about the Blueberry Boost Accelerator today and meet the finalists – and sample their products – at the upcoming Blueberry Convention! 

Crop Report

The Blueberry Crop Report is an update on crop conditions and markets throughout important blueberry growing areas. Today you’ll hear from Alan Schreiber in Washington, Caylan Huddleston in Oregon and Luis Vegas in Peru. This was recorded on September 4, 2025. 

In this episode of “The Business of Blueberries,” we welcome guest host Steve Mantle, founder and CEO of Innov8.ag and USHBC’s partner in the BerrySmart Field program, who is joined by  Tim Hyde, CEO and co-founder of SWAN Systems. They’re coming to you live from the fields at this year's Washington State Berrysmart Field Demo Day in Mount Vernon, Washington. Together, they discuss how tech innovation and data can help solve problems and increase profitability for producers. Hyde shares about the significance of precision irrigation management in Australia and the many practices they’ve researched and developed to allow for growth in the dry Australian environment.

“  We had our millennial drought from 2000 to 2010, and we're seeing that over here where you've got pressures with lack of water. We have wage increases with that, and also the whole social license is really impacting how customers and consumers want to see their product grown and they don't really want to see water wasted. So we're just trying to help growers be more successful.” – Tim Hyde

 Topics covered include: 

• An introduction to Hyde and SWAN Systems’ work in Australia. 
• An exploration of the water-saving solutions Australia has established and what North American producers can learn from their efforts.
• What you can expect to hear during sessions on this topic at The Blueberry Convention in Seattle this October.

Crop Report

The Blueberry Crop Report is an update on crop conditions and markets throughout important blueberry growing areas. Today you’ll hear from Sunny Brar in British Columbia, TJ Hafner in Oregon, Alan Schreiber in Washington, Brody Schropp in Michigan, Mario Ramirez in Mexico and Luis Vegas in Peru. This was recorded on August 21, 2025. 

In this episode of “The Business of Blueberries,” Kasey Cronquist, president of the U.S. Highbush Council (USHBC) and the North American Blueberry Council, is joined by Harry Kaiser, Ph.D., a professor at Cornell University. Kaiser directs the Cornell Commodity Promotion Research Program and conducts economic evaluations for national agricultural marketing programs, including the USHBC. In this interview, Kaiser discusses his career in measuring the impact of agricultural promotion programs and the findings of his recent independent analysis on the return on investment (ROI) of the USHBC.

“  In other words, what I found was if you had an extra dollar to spend (on top of your budget) … it would return $19.29 cents in industrywide profit, net revenue operating profits, which is a very, very high ROI.” – Harry Kaiser, Ph.D.

 Topics covered include: 

• An introduction to Kaiser and his work. 
• Kaiser’s independent analysis of the blueberry industry’s investment in the USHBC and its ROI.
• The methodology followed to determine the ROI of the promotional spend to producers.
• How the blueberry industry can continue to increase demand to keep pace with rising global production.

Crop Report

The Blueberry Crop Report is an update on crop conditions and markets throughout important blueberry growing areas. Today you’ll hear from Luis Vegas in Peru, Sunny Brar in British Columbia, TJ Hafner in Oregon and Alan Schreiber in Washington. This was recorded on August 14, 2025.