The Business of Blueberries

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 first-time guest and Blueberry Leadership Program class four fellow Fletcher Simmons . Simmons is a fourth-generation farmer from Archer, Florida. He’s currently the operations manager at Straughn Farms, one of the larg...

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 Denny Vander Kooi, a third-generation blueberry grower from Allegan, Michigan, who’s currently serving as Michigan’s representative on the USHBC Council. Beyond the farm, Vander Kooi has become an important voice around...

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 Tammy Brannen , owner of Creekside Berry Farms in Georgia. Brannen spent more than 20 years as a registered nurse before returning to her family’s agricultural roots. Today, she combines that clinical expertise with her farming...

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 Haiying Zhang , USHBC’s director of global business development. Zhang has spent the last several years helping position U.S. blueberries for growth far beyond our domestic market by building relationships and helping e...

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 Brandon Raso , Variety Farms farm and operations manager, and the recent recipient of the 2026 National Outstanding Young Farmer award. Raso is a fourth-generation grower at Variety Farms in Hammonton, New Jersey, where...

In this episode of “The Business of Blueberries,” Kasey Cronquist , president of the U.S. Highbush Council ( USHBC ) and the North American Blueberry Counci (NABC)l, is joined by Brian Bocock , president and CEO of MBG Marketing . After more than three decades helping shape the berry business from the warehouse floor to executive leadership at Naturipe Farms , Bocock has stepped into a new role wi...

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 once again by Leslie Wada , Ph. D. Dr. Wada is USHBC’s senior director of nutrition and health research. She’s also a researcher, scientist and a registered dietitian who has spent over 15 years working alongside our indust...

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 Kevin Hamilton , vice president of global marketing and communications for USHBC and NABC. Over the past two years, Hamilton and his team have elevated how we look at what’s next for driving consumer demand for blueberr...

In this episode of “The Business of Blueberries,” we’re sharing the highly requested and well-attended panel discussion Understanding Mexico’s Production Landscape from The 2026 Blueberry Hill Climb and Industry Meetings. Facilitated by U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council (USHBC) vice chair Brittany Lee , this session brings together an elite panel of veteran voices providing firsthand experience on s...

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 blueberry grower and new USHBC Chair Ellie Norris . Making her fourth appearance on “The Business of Blueberries,” she joins us to share her goals for her leadership roles in the blueberry industry, including a strong e...

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 Tom Barnes , interim director of data and business intelligence at the USHBC and NABC, and president and CEO of Category Partners . Barnes is a veteran of the perishables industry with a deep passion for how data drives...

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’s joined by Charlie Andersen , CEO and founder of Burro , and Noe Toribio , customer success manager at Burro. Together, they discuss on-farm efficiency potential using autonomous robotics. They share the impact this technology...

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 Lisa Wasko DeVetter , Ph. D., a professor of small fruit horticulture in the Department of Horticulture within the College of Agricultural, Human and Natural Resource Sciences. Her work focuses on applied research and e...

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 Tim Miles, Ph. D ., an associate professor in the Department of Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences at Michigan State University, where he leads the Small Fruit and Hop Pathology Program. Miles’ research focuses on the d...

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 for the fourth time by Patricio Muñoz, Ph. D. , associate professor of blueberry breeding and genomics and the Endowed Chair of Horticulture Crop Breeding at the University of Florida. When he’s not shaping the future of b...

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 ), reflects on 2025 and shares some of the most impactful insights that emerged from the last season of the podcast. Common themes of interest over the last year include quality, genetics and global supply and demand. “ What's not to b...

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 Jaclyn Bennett , general manager at Parabug , a company that’s changing the game when it comes to pest management. We caught up with Bennett at The Blueberry Convention back in October. Founded in 2016, Parabug uses dro...

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 Luis Vegas , general manager of Proarándanos , and Miguel Bentin , founder of Valle y Pampa. Vegas leads his organization’s efforts to represent and promote Peru’s blueberry industry worldwide, providing critical market...

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 ), brings us back to Seattle for an episode recorded at The 2025 Blueberry Convention. He’s joined by Georgia blueberry grower Alex Cornelius and dried fruit producer and processor Dominic Meduri . Cornelius shares the impact the USHBC...

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 statewid...

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 rec...

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, C...

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 be...

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. Fro...

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 positio...