The Business of Blueberries

U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council
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The Business of Blueberries

The blueberry industry is like no other: passionate, resilient, and innovative. This podcast is your source for the latest information on the production, markets, research and technology related to the blueberry value chain. This is the Business of Blueberries.

  1. -6 J

    Blueberry Industry Growth Drivers - Part 2 With Hector Lujan

    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 Hector Lujan,CEO at berry giant Hortifrut and the leader of its global operations. Lujan’s career spans over 20 years in the berry industry, with previous roles at Reiter and BerryMex. Last episode, Lujan shared what led him to his current position at Hortifrut. Today, he describes his perspective on the global blueberry industry.  “ So, I think what we need to look at is, one, as marketers – to make sure that we are moving toward what the consumer wants and providing that product. And as growers – we are long-term thinkers and developing the industry with that long-term view because it will continue to grow the market.” — Hector Lujan  Topics covered include:  Lujan’s vision for the global blueberry industry.How to grow both the volume and value of the blueberry market.Dynamics in key growing regions like Mexico and Chile. 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. This was recorded on January 2, 2025.

    26 min

  2. 31/12/2024

    Hector Lujan on Bringing Berries to the World Every Day

    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 Hector Lujan, the new CEO at berry giant Hortifrut and the leader of its global operations. Lujan’s career spans over 20 years in the berry industry, with previous roles at Reiter and BerryMex. Lujan shares what led him to his current position at Hortifruit, and his vision for the future of the berry patch.  “ By bringing the berry patch together along with a year-round supply, the demand for berries is continuing to grow. It's healthy candy. And what we see is … the per capita consumption will continue to grow as these new generations get to eat it year-round and it's part of their daily diet.” — Hector Lujan  Topics covered include:  An introduction to Lujan and his career in berries. Hortifruit’s role in the global berry patch.Lujan’s vision for Hortifruit and blueberries in the future. Tune in to part two of the interview with Hector Lujan on episode 191!  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. This was recorded on December 26, 2024.

    27 min

  3. 16/12/2024

    Meet Inez Be: Building the Blueberry Brand

    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 Inez Be, the new USHBC Director of Marketing. Be is a marketing, PR and communications expert who’s passionate about food and agriculture, and has years of experience working for a number of commodities groups, including potatoes, honey, almonds, rice, avocados and blueberries. Tune in to discover the impact Be is already making in the blueberry industry through many creative promotions and events, and to hear what she has planned for the future. “It's just exciting to be able to start at this stage within the blueberry industry and have an actual impact on that, and be able to learn about the many dynamic, kind of complicated and interesting facets of what the blueberry industry has to offer. … We want to make sure that what we're doing is reaching our target audience where they are, and being able to communicate that value and joy that blueberries provide.” – Inez Be  Topics covered include:  An introduction to Be and her career. Discussion of the many events and promotions Be has already been involved in, and what she’s looking forward to creating for the industry.An exploration of the future strategy for blueberry marketing under Be’s leadership, including collaborations with influencers and organizations. 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. This was recorded on December 6, 2024.

    28 min

  4. 06/12/2024

    Value-Added Blueberry Opportunities With Steve Ware of Naturipe

    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 Steve Ware, vice president and general manager, value added, at Naturipe Farms. Naturipe is known for its sustainable practices and innovation in the berry industry. As a grower cooperative, Naturipe prioritizes farmer collaboration to deliver high-quality berries year-round. Ware discusses his 30-year journey in the produce industry, Naturipe's sustainable practices and its innovative approach to value-added blueberry products.  “Now people are on the go. A lot of companies are making people go back to the office. A lot of people are traveling. Sports are back in. Everything is back in swing, and so people are back to looking for solutions in the snacking category.” – Steve Ware  Topics covered include:  An introduction to Ware and what brought him to the blueberry category.Innovations in blueberry snacking, including bento boxes, Berry Buddies, snack packs and more.Future innovations, market trends and emerging value-added products.How varieties are changing the game and enabling the next wave of value-added blueberry foods. 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, Andres Armstrong in Chile and Mario Ramirez in Mexico. This was recorded on November 29, 2024.

    41 min

  5. 22/11/2024

    Autonomous Harvesting With Sam Gray and Laina Gray

    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 blueberry producer and innovative farmer Sam Gray, and Laina Gray, U.S. operations manager for FineField. Sam is the farm manager for his family’s business, PineBloom Farms, in Albany, Georgia. He created a process for using FineField’s Harvy 500 and the Burro automated cart to improve blueberry harvest efficiencies. Laina has firsthand experience with the Harvy 500, FineField’s solar-powered robotic autonomous harvester. Together, they share insights on this collaboration and the benefits it offers blueberry producers when it comes to future automated processes.  “So, I had no idea that we were going to use them both in tandem. It just seemed easier and maybe less wear and tear on everybody kind of involved in the operation. And then also the benefit … with the Harvy is as we're continually loading and unloading the fruit, it is probably not being in the heat off the bush for more than 10 to 15 minutes because it's going off the machine, it's getting palletized, and it's immediately being put in a refrigerated trailer. So, it just helps with getting that fruit to a temperature where if it does have bruising or if it does have defects, it will kind of slow the decay.” — Sam Gray  Topics covered include:  An introduction to Sam and Laina, and their work in the blueberry industry.The motivations and the process Sam used for incorporating automation into his operation. The benefits and challenges of using two unique automated technologies during harvest.  Watch this video to see the automated machines working in tandem.  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. This was recorded on November 15, 2024.

    45 min

  6. 14/11/2024

    Blueberry Assessments: What You Need to Know With Crystal Wills

    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 USHBC Compliance Coordinator Crystal Wills. In her role as compliance coordinator, Wills ensures the timely and fair collection of all assessments from imported and domestic blueberry production. USHBC assessment forms are due Nov. 30, and Wills walks listeners through the process of completing the forms, shares available resources to help with questions and explains the penalties levied if the deadline is not met. “The law requires that the grower or importer of record, if you have over 2,000 pounds of berries, you're going to pay nine-tenths of a penny per pound or 18 per ton, and that's going to be on fresh and frozen berries. This is going to come into the USHBC, and that's going to be for the purposes of research and promotion. So we're making sure that that's happening across the board.” – Crystal Wills  Topics covered include:  An introduction to Wills and her role with USHBC. An exploration of the process producers and handlers should use to submit the required forms and declare their production numbers.How the assessment is calculated, and what values need to be used and verified to calculate total production.How to avoid penalties for late submissions or incomplete payments. Contact Wills directly with any questions at cwills@nabcblues.org  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. This was recorded on November 8, 2024.

    28 min

  7. 07/11/2024

    Delivering Crop Protection Solutions for Blueberry Growers With Jerry Baron, Ph.D.

    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 the Executive Director of the IR-4 Project, Jerry Baron, Ph.D., and NABC Director of Government Affairs Alyssa Houtby. The IR-4 Project was established in 1963 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and land-grant universities to ensure that specialty crop farmers have legal access to safe and effective crop protection products. Baron has been the IR-4 Project's executive director since September 2006. Alyssa Houtby works closely with the NABC’s Government Affairs Committee to identify and advance the industry's public policy goals through the council’s advocacy platform.  “The reason why the program exists is because the companies that register products … focus their research and development area on crops that give them a large and rapid return on investments, i.e. they go after corn, soybeans, cotton, so on and so forth. The specialty crops … don't have access to those products. And one of the things we do as a government organization is we go out there and develop the data to show what type of residues remain on the crop at harvest.” – Jerry Baron, Ph.D.   Topics covered include:  An introduction to Baron and Houtby and their work. An exploration of the purpose of the IR-4 Project, and why it’s important to blueberry producers for a number of reasons, including the expansion of global exportation opportunities.A discussion of the challenges faced by regulatory agencies in labeling inputs, and the work the IR-4 Project is doing to support specialty crop producers.  Learn more at ir4project.org 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. This was recorded on November 1, 2024.

    29 min

  8. 31/10/2024

    United To Solve the Blueberry Puzzle With Steve Magami

    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 Steve Magami, Agrovision’s co-founder and executive chair. Agrovision is a leading vertically integrated global healthy snacking superfruit platform with operations in Perú, Mexico, Morocco, Chile, Romania, China, Thailand, Indonesia, India, Egypt and the United Kingdom. You can hear Magami’s previous appearances on the show in episodes 115 and 166.  “We're seeing the opportunity to continue to develop cutting-edge software technology to deliver this consistent, high-quality experience year-round. We're working hard on the times of the year when our volumes of that better berry are not as strong as the strongest times of year, really to get it to a consistent level of volume.” – Steve Magami  Topics covered include:  An introduction to Magami and his work at Agrovision. An exploration of Agrovision’s strategy and global efforts to create a year-round supply of blueberries. The potential to grow the appeal of various blueberry snacks with consumers.   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. This was recorded on October 24, 2024.

    28 min
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À propos

The blueberry industry is like no other: passionate, resilient, and innovative. This podcast is your source for the latest information on the production, markets, research and technology related to the blueberry value chain. This is the Business of Blueberries.

Informations

  • Création
    U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council
  • Années d’activité
    2020 - 2025
  • Épisodes
    199
  • Classification
    Tous publics
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2025 U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council
  • Site web de l’émission
    The Business of Blueberries

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