The Business of Blueberries – Details, episodes & analysis

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 MBG Marketing CEO Brad Moorer. MBG Marketing is a producer-owned blueberry and blackberry cooperative that was formed in 1936 as the Michigan Blueberry Growers Association. They have since expanded their membership to several other states, and today have over 200 growers, making them the largest marketer of fresh and processed, cultivated blueberries in North America. Moorer has previously joined our podcast on episode 108 and episode 109. He returns now to talk about leadership, marketing and his views on where the industry is headed and where it needs to go.

“We have the data today to manage more effectively than we did in the past and that certainly helped drive improved results on both the sales side and the expense management side. But we have had this headwind of inflationary environment that we've been operating in, and I think we'll all be glad to see  if that ever goes back to more of a normal or at least a consistency where we could plan. … This is a long-term business, and you've gotta take that horizon when you get emotional about what's going on in the short term.” – Brad Moorer

 Topics covered include: 

• An introduction to Moorer and his work. 
• An exploration of the progress and market expansion MBG Marketing has provided Michigan Growers.
• A look at the new research agreement between Berry Blue (an MBG Marketing company) and the University of Florida Blueberry Breeding Program.

Crop Report

The Blueberry Crop Report is an update on crop conditions and markets throughout important blueberry growing areas. Today you’ll hear from T.J. Hafner in Oregon and Luis Vegas in Peru. This was recorded on September 5, 2024. 

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 Michigan State University Associate Professor Tim Miles and NABC Director of Government Affairs Alyssa Houtby.. Miles is an associate professor in the Small Fruit and Hop Pathology Laboratory who has teamed up with researchers across the U.S. to study the management of anthracnose and botritus fruit rot in blueberries. Houtby works closely with the NABC Government Affairs Committee, and is also focused on funding and technical assistance opportunities for projects that improve blueberry production and market access.

“I'd love to improve fruit quality and improve shelf life and improve some of the environmental aspects of growing blueberries. We do have a lot of really great tools and synthetic pesticides that we've been working on for a long time, and there's been a lot of innovation in bio fungicides.” – Tim Miles

 Topics covered include: 

• An introduction to Miles and Houtby. 
• A discussion of the projects Miles has organized and contributed to, and how they impact the blueberry industry. 
• An exploration of a project dubbed “BLUE DYNAMO,” and what it offers producers and researchers as far as opportunities to collaborate and integrate new protocols. 

Crop Report

The Blueberry Crop Report is an update on crop conditions and markets throughout important blueberry growing areas. Today you’ll hear from T.J. Hafner in Oregon and Luis Vegas in Peru. This was recorded on August 29, 2024. 

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 again by Steve Mantle of Innov8 Ag and the BerrySmartProject. We previously heard from Mantle in episodes 44, 100 and 133. He joins us in this episode to share the latest details on the BerrySmart project, his insights on harvest automation and what the future holds for his work with blueberries.

“The focus really was to bring together the growers, the researchers and the tech providers to help with optimizing blueberry farming operations, with a focus on soils, nutrients, yield, distribution, weather, chemicals, nutrients and, all importantly, labor. … And, so, weaving that together is the journey.” - Steve Mantle

Topics covered include: 

• The latest and greatest on the BerrySmartProject and the benefits it’s providing to blueberry producers industrywide. 
• Advances in leaf sampling for evaluating the health, nutrients and mineral availability present in both new and old plant growth.
• Mantle’s insights on harvest innovations. 

Crop Report

The Blueberry Crop Report is an update on crop conditions and markets throughout important blueberry growing areas. Today you’ll hear from Brittany Lee in Florida, Derrin Wheeler in Georgia, Jody McPherson in North Carolina, TJ Hafner in Oregon, Alan Schreiber in Washington, Elise Oliver in California, and Brody Schropp in Michigan. This was recorded on May 16, 2024. 

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 Ashlee Sikorski, team development coach at Sway Leadership, to discuss leadership development in the blueberry industry. 

“If you have 10 people at your company putting in an extra 10%, then you have a whole, full employee that isn’t even coming out of your budget. I think people who show up and are satisfied with their work and they’re happy to be there, they’re doing a job that suits who they are.” - Ashlee Sikorski

“Old leadership styles are top down … there’s no collaboration happening with the staff … if you want [culture to be more long lasting], you’re going to be bringing your staff into it and then having higher retention.”  - Ashlee Sikorski 

Topics covered include:

• Sikorski’s experience in professional development and how she ended up at Sway Leadership.
• The importance of empowering employees and developing self-leadership.
• Developing a culture and getting buy-in from staff. 
• What an “enneagram” is and how it can help identify archetypes in the workplace. 

Crop Report

The Blueberry Crop Report is an update on crop conditions and markets throughout North and South America. In this episode, you’ll hear from Andres Armstrong in Chile, Luis Vegas in Peru, and Mario Ramírez in Mexico. This was recorded on January 12, 2022.

Marketing Boost

This March, USHBC will kick off its first power period of 2022 by leveraging National Nutrition Month®, an annual nutrition education campaign created and developed by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. In this week’s Marketing Boost, USHBC/NABC Vice President of Marketing and Communications Jennifer Sparks discusses the upcoming month and the USHBC’s Nutrition Month Toolkit.

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 Cort Brazelton, co-CEO of Fall Creek Farm & Nursery, to discuss the latest International Blueberry Organization (IBO) State of the Industry report and the future of global blueberry production.

“If the IBO is going to create more value in the future, we need a strong partnership with the USHBC, because no organization in the world is carrying the weight like the U.S. council. It’s as simple as that.” - Cort Brazelton

“To get more share of the stomach, we don’t just do it through fresh, we get our product into more foods people eat. But to do that, the market – the buying side – has to have confidence, availability, consistency in pricing and getting the type of product they want. ”  - Cort Brazelton

Topics covered include:

• Overview and function of the IBO State of the Industry report, now free to all. 
• Importance of meeting in person and collaborating. 
• IBO’s role in contextualizing the global blueberry business.
• How having reliable and easily accessible data can help growing and production decisions. 

Crop Report

The Blueberry Crop Report is an update on crop conditions and markets throughout North and South America. In this episode, you’ll hear from Andres Armstrong in Chile, Luis Vegas in Peru, and Mario Ramírez in Mexico. This was recorded on January 5, 2022.

Marketing Boost

Both strategy and tactics play a key role in executing a program. In this week’s Marketing Boost, USHBC/NABC Vice President of Marketing and Communications Jennifer Sparks discusses the importance of proper planning as the New Year kicks off.

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 Ken Patterson, NABC chair and co-owner of Island Grove Ag Products, to offer some holiday greetings and preview the upcoming NABC/USHBC Spring Meetings in Tampa, Florida, in early March.

“I wanted to be on the forefront of understanding where this industry was going to go and help however I can to push it in that direction.” - Ken Patterson

“You develop relationships and that’s what this business is about … there’s nothing like shaking somebody’s hand, looking them in the eye and talking about blueberries.” - Ken Patterson

Topics include:

• Patterson’s extensive experience in the blueberry industry and what has changed since he started.
• The role Florida has in kicking off the domestic blueberry growing season. 
• Why and how Patterson got involved in NABC and his impact on NABC’s policy positions.  
• A preview of the upcoming Spring Meetings and what to expect if you’re attending in Tampa. 

The 2022 Spring Meetings will take place on March 1-4 in Tampa, Florida. Registration will open in early January.

Marketing Boost

Since launching Grab a Boost of Blue in early 2021, USHBC has centered its promotional programming around this motivating call to action and worked with many in our industry to use it in their marketing as a rallying cry for consumers to buy more blueberries. In this week’s Marketing Boost, USHBC/NABC Vice President of Marketing and Communications Jennifer Sparks details the hard work and collaboration that has led to an exciting milestone to cap off year one of Grab a Boost of Blue: It’s now being featured on blueberry packaging!

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 three blueberry growers in the Pacific Northwest to discuss the unprecedented and catastrophic flooding in areas of British Columbia and Washington state.

Growers interviewed include:

• Steve Phillips of Berryhill Foods in British Columbia, Canada.
• Jason Smith of Fraser Berry Farms, also in British Columbia.
• Bryan Sakuma of Sakuma Farms in Washington.

Each details their experience with the floods and how it affected their growing operations and communities at large.

Each grower details their experience with the floods and how it affected their growing operations and their communities at large.

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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 Gunnar Avinelis, CEO of AgriCare, to discuss the firm’s creative approach to employee engagement and what it could mean for the larger agriculture industry. 

“[By choosing an employee stock ownership plan structure], we would not only preserve a legacy, but build a new legacy, and build companies that last far beyond what our families can be and do. …We want what we’re doing to last for a long time and to grow with new ideas.” - Gunnar Avinelis

“Never has hearing what’s important to our employees and creating a better work environment been more essential than it is now, and for many companies, we have to look at more than just paying people more, because that’s not always an option in lean times.”  - Gunnar Avinelis

Topics covered include:

• Avinelis’ background in the blueberry industry.
• Overview of AgriCare’s function in the produce industry as a full-service management business. 
• How AgriCare arrived at its employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) structure and how it helps alleviate labor challenges. 
• Mechanics of an ESOP and how employees engage with the company as a result. 

Crop Report

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 and Mario Rameriez in Mexico. This was recorded on December 15, 2021.

Marketing Boost

USHBC has launched the first-ever blueberry Alexa Skill! In this week’s Marketing Boost, USHBC/NABC Vice President of Marketing and Communications Jennifer Sparks discusses this amazing new feature and details how your consumers, community, and partners can grab a boost of blue with A Blueberry Boost! And don’t forget to check out our Alexa Skill: A Blueberry Boost Toolkit.

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 Dwight Ferguson, president and CEO of the California Agricultural Leadership Foundation, to discuss his thoughts on leadership, developing the next generation of leaders and his role in merging the Produce Marketing Association and United Fresh. 

“PMA has historically done certain things extremely well, just as [United Fresh] has, and it truly was, as we said several times during the process, an opportunity to create something better by pulling those two organizations together and truly aiding what’s now going to be a global trade association for fresh produce and floral.” - Dwight Ferguson

“Where we can add the most value [for our program participants] is helping them evolve their leadership skills so hopefully they can become more influential and make that positive difference that ultimately benefits ag and California.”  - Dwight Ferguson

Topics covered include:

• Ferguson’s background in the cut flower and produce industries. 
• Ferguson’s role in merging Produce Marketing Association and United Fresh into the International Fresh Produce Association.
• The mission and structure of the California Agricultural Leadership Foundation.
• Building leaders in the blueberry industry and guiding big-picture thinking. 

Marketing Boost

Recipes are a fantastic way to engage customers this holiday season, especially when those recipes are fun and unique. In this week’s Marketing Boost, USHBC/NABC Vice President of Marketing and Communications Jennifer Sparks details USHBC’s Fall & Winter Holidays toolkit, which is filled with images, videos and downloadable recipe cards for the holiday season.

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 Andres Armstrong, executive director of the Chilean Blueberry Committee, to discuss expectations for the upcoming growing season in Chile and share about the dynamic changes taking place for blueberries on the ground in Chile.

“We’ve been trying to look for new and better markets for fruit and I think [Chile] has been quite successful in that sense.” - Andres Armstrong

“What is happening in the U.S. is happening in Europe and is happening in Asia ... fruit is going where the opportunities are and opportunities [for blueberries] are growing everywhere.” - Andres Armstrong

Topics covered include:

• The state of Chilean blueberry production and how Chile is responding to increased supply across the world. 
• Armstrong’s perspective on global growth development and the opportunities to collaborate with the U.S. market.
• Current challenges with logistics and moving fruit around the world. 
• Improving labor efficiency at Chile blueberry farms. 

Crop Report

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. This was recorded on December 1, 2021.

Marketing Boost

USHBC makes it easy for your customers to get into the holiday spirit. In this week’s Marketing Boost, USHBC/NABC Vice President of Marketing and Communications Jennifer Sparks details USHBC’s Fall & Winter Holidays toolkit, which is filled with recipes and content for the holiday season.