The Business of Blueberries

• Accelerating Innovation: How Blueberries Are Driving Ingredient Marketing

  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 ReportThe 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.

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• BerrySmart Field Insights With Tim Hyde of SWAN Systems

  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 ReportThe 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.

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• Data-Driven Accountability and Guidance for the Blueberry Industry

  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 ReportThe 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.

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• The Future of Blueberry Gatherings: Innovation, Insights and Industry Growth

  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 Amanda Griffin, vice president of engagement and education for USHBC/NABC. Cronquist and Griffin discuss how blueberry industry events have evolved throughout the years, and why gatherings like The Blueberry Convention, October 8-10 in Seattle, are must-attend for knowledge building, networking and more. “We wanted to focus on how to get the most out of what the event is by having relatable content, Blueberry Lane and the meetings all in one spot . Rather than doing that twice a year, let’s just do it once. The other fun piece to this is it allowed for us to open up resources to do more of what we are hearing the industry wanted … for us to come to them.” – Amanda Griffin Topics covered include: The evolution of USHBC events and how they’ve grown and expanded over the years.What to expect at this year's Blueberry Convention, including new content and standout elements to get excited about.Increased excitement around Blueberry Lane and Blueberry Row.Crop ReportThe Blueberry Crop Report is an update on crop conditions and markets throughout important blueberry growing areas. Today you’ll hear from TJ Hafner in Oregon, Sunny Brar in British Columbia, Mario Ramirez in Mexico, Brody Schropp in Michigan and Luis Vegas in Peru. This was recorded on July 31, 2025.

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• Inside the Council: Bryan Sakuma on Guiding the Blueberry Industry

  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 USHBC Chair Bryan Sakuma. As a fourth-generation grower, Sakuma brings deep industry experience to his role as a leader of strategic initiatives for the blueberry industry. His passion for blueberries and vision for collaboration among producers is helping shape the future of the industry. In this episode, Sakuma discusses efforts to further engage our growers and encourage their involvement in meetings and events.“ Every meeting we go to we learn a little bit more about how to better be prepared, what growers are wanting to hear, how they're wanting to hear it, because some people are verbal, some people want to see something on a chart and others just want to be one-on-one. So the different aspects are interesting and we're learning, and I think we're doing a better job of getting that information out and growers understanding where we're at, where we're headed and when we're going to get there.” – Bryan Sakuma Topics covered include: The latest opportunities for collaboration between the blueberry industry and growers. Sakuma’s vision and priorities for USHBC in the coming years.How USHBC is thinking about technology for industry growth.The ways producers can access and participate in industry meetings. Crop ReportThe Blueberry Crop Report is an update on crop conditions and markets throughout important blueberry growing areas. Today you’ll hear from TJ Hafner in Oregon, Alan Schreiber in Washington, Sunny Brar in British Columbia, Brody Schropp in Michigan and Luis Vegas in Peru. This was recorded on July 24, 2025.

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