The Business of Blueberries

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 Stephanie Stuckey , CEO of Stuckey’s Corporation and a Georgia pecan grower. Stuckey became CEO of Stuckey’s in November 2019 and is the third generation CEO of the family business, which not only produce...

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 Bruce Summers , administrator for the USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS). In this role, Summers works on policy issues and oversight of a variety of programs, including grading of commodities, th...

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 Josh Scheel of Scenic Fruit Company , Bryan Sakuma of Sakuma Brothers , Amy Nguyen of Dragonberry Produce , Todd Sanders of the California Blueberry Commission and Renata Dalton , USHBC director of busine...

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 Joe Vargas , director of business intelligence at the USHBC and NABC, Joe Powell of Wish Farms and Michael Hill of H&A Farms . These industry leaders discuss the recently launched BerrySmart Insights...

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 once again by Soren Bjorn president of Driscoll’s of the Americas. Bjorn has been a frequent guest on the show, with featured discussions on episodes 003 , 004 , 088 and 089 . With more than 100 years of far...

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, Pat Goin in Indiana, Elise Oliver in California, TJ Hafner in Oregon, Alan Schreiber in Washington, Luis Vegas in Peru and Mario Ramirez in Mexico. This was recorded on May 31...

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 Kristy Babb , USHBC and NABC’s first-ever communications director. This role was created to develop a focus on a communications platform for both organizations that will further unify the blueberry indust...

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 Mississippi State Rep. Jill Ford , fourth grade teacher Lisa Parenteau and students Logan and Nicole . Thanks to the creative collaboration of this team, the fourth grade class at Mannsdale Upper Elementa...

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 North Carolina University Associate Professor Massimo Iorizzo, Ph. D. He was also featured in episode 31 where he helped introduce the Vaccinium Coordinated Ag Project ( VacCAP ). This program is a nation...

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. Armstrong returns to update listeners on the progress of the Chilean blueberry industry. He previously appeared in episode 22 and...

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 Mantle founder of Innov8 Ag , and USHBC/NABC Vice President of Engagement and Education Amanda Griffin to discuss the BerrySmart Field Project . Mantle introduced the BerrySmart Field Project in epi...

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 Robert Verloop , CEO of the California Walnut Board , Alvaro Luque , CEO of Avocados From Mexico , and Richard Waycott , CEO of the Almond Board of California . These industry leaders share their visions...

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 David Magaña , VP and senior analyst at RaboResearch Food & Agribusiness . Magaña is responsible for covering and analyzing the U.S. and North American fresh fruit and vegetable industries for RaboBan...

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 co-CEOs Cort Brazelton and Oscar Verges of Fall Creek Nursery . They discuss the origin of the Fall Creek, the current state of blueberry genetics, their Sekoya platform and their support of the USHBC’s l...

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 Brittany Lee , vice president of Florida Blue Farms and the newest crop report contributor. Lee has a strong background in Florida agriculture, having grown up there. She also served as the executive dire...

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 Leslie Wada, Ph. D ., senior director of nutrition and health research at USHBC/NABC, and Aedín Cassidy, Ph. D. , chair in nutrition and preventive medicine and director for interdisciplinary research at...

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 Curt Granger , vice president of global marketing and communications for NABC and USHBC; and valued agency partner, Grant Prentice , director of strategic insights at Padilla FoodMinds . Two years ago, th...

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 José Antonio Gómez-Bazán , CEO of Camposol . Camposol is a multinational company that provides families around the world with fresh and healthy food. It has operations in Peru, Chile, Mexico, Colombia and...

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 Luis Vegas of Proarandanos . Vegas shares the challenges and successes the blueberry industry has faced in Peru this past year, and his optimism for the bright future ahead.   “I would say this has b...

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 Josh Miers-Jones and James French of TOMRA . Miers-Jones is the global category director for blueberries at TOMRA, and French is the company’s head of innovation. Together, they discuss the latest technol...

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 ), reviews trends, highlights and milestones shared on the podcast in 2022.   The discussion features clips from these previous “The Business of Blueberries” episodes:  Driving the Forward Momentum in the Blueb...

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 Amanda Griffin , vice president of education and engagement, and Shelly Hartmann , chair of the USHBC and owner of True Blue Farms . They sit down to discuss the changes to the USHBC committee process, an...

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 Colin Fain of Agronometrics, International Blueberry Organization (IBO) report contributor Matt Ogg and USHBC/NABC Director of Business Intelligence Joe Vargas. They discuss the recent IBO Global State of...

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 ), shares the responses, comments and questions from industry stakeholders about the data platform provided by USHBC. Joe Vargas , director of business intelligence for the USHBC, joins Cronquist to share how we can deve...

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 ), sits down with University of Florida blueberry breeder Patricio Muñoz, Ph. D., to talk about flavor. This was recorded live at the International Fresh Produce Association (IFPA) Global Produce and Floral Show in Orlan...