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), 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 be excited about the blueberry industry?... I mean everything that drives consumption in an agricultural commodity, blueberries has it. Convenience, health, snackability, flavor, fun, photogenic. It's an awesome category, commodity fruit to be a part of.” – Wade Jackson

“I think what's great about this industry is we have really passionate people that love what they do. Obviously, you know, you've brought a good young team in that really is trying to push this thing and convince all growers, it's the right direction to take. But I'm just most excited about the momentum we have.” – Greg Willems

Episodes covered:
Episode 199: Wade Jackson on Berry Genetics at Family Tree Farms
Episode 200: Farming, Finance and The Future With JC Clinard of Frutura
Episode 218: Berry Business Leadership: A Conversation With Garland Reiter Jr.
Episode 204: Developments in Blueberry Breeding With Paul Sandefur, Ph.D.
Episode 191: Blueberry Industry Growth Drivers: Part 2 With Hector Lujan
Episode 205: Innovation, Impact and International Growth: The IBO’s Mission With Mario Steta
Episode 206: From Data to Decisions: AI’s Role in Blueberry Success
Episode 197: The Impact of Genetics on Blueberry Quality With Greg Willems

Crop Report
The Blueberry Crop Report is an update on crop conditions and markets throughout important blueberry growing areas.

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 drone technology to enhance the efficiency and affordability of biological pest control for growers. She shares about how drone technology is being adopted in blueberry fields, the benefits growers are seeing and what’s next for innovation in this space.
“ What Parabug does is we apply beneficial insects with drones. So we have a proprietary mechanism that mounts to essentially an off-the-shelf ag drone. That mechanism is incredibly gentle for beneficial insects and allows for another avenue of integrated pest management to be economically viable to growers.” – Jaclyn Bennett

Topics covered include:
An introduction to Bennett and her work at Parabug.
An exploration of the innovative technology created by Parabug and the benefits it can provide in pest management for producers.
A glimpse into Parabug’s next innovation.

Crop Report
The Blueberry Crop Report is an update on crop conditions and markets throughout important blueberry growing areas. You’ll hear from Mario Ramirez in Mexico and Luis Vegas in Peru. This was recorded on December 18, 2025.

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 data, industry insights and strategic direction for growers and exporters. Bentin serves as the general manager of the joint venture between Valle y Pampa, a Peruvian blueberry production and export company, and Family Tree Farms. He has extensive experience in fruit production and global markets, and shares firsthand knowledge of the challenges and opportunities facing growers.
 “I think 2023 was a wake-up call for all the industry. It was really a learning experience for all of us. … One of the things we learned was how the different varieties behaved under these conditions, and there was a clear difference between certain varieties.” – Luis Vegas

“ As Peru starts improving the average quality of the crop, we'll have more, as exporters, better opportunities in China, which is a very highly demanding market that establishes a big difference between premium fruit, what they consider premium fruit and regular fruit.” – Miguel Bentin

Topics covered include:
An introduction to Vegas and Bentin, and their work.
An exploration of Proarándanos global priorities and reach.
The impact weather has had on the Peruvian blueberry production over the past year.

Crop Report
The Blueberry Crop Report is an update on crop conditions and markets throughout important blueberry growing areas. You’ll hear from Luis Vegas in Peru. This was recorded on December 11, 2025.

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 and NABC have had on the industry, the value he finds in being involved in the convention and future efforts. Meduri provides additional perspective by reflecting on industry changes within blueberry processing.
“ This is my organization and I need to be involved, and I think the American farmer needs to remember that this is our organization and that it is here for us and it benefits us. And you can't always do that from home … the NABC, the USHBC, it is here for the American farmers. Yes, it's the international businesses, but it's here to promote blueberries and it's here for us to learn.” – Alex Cornelius

 ”Everybody is very interested in U.S. blueberries, whether we get inquiries for fresh and frozen. You know our primary goal is to focus on dried but I think that there's still a lot of opportunities out there in a lot of different regions of the world.” – Dominic Meduri

Topics covered include:
A discussion of the benefits the USHBC and NABC provide producers.
Opportunities for expanding the reach of the blueberry industry into dried fruit manufacturing.

Crop Report
The Blueberry Crop Report is an update on crop conditions and markets throughout important blueberry growing areas. You’ll hear from Luis Vegas in Peru and Mario Ramirez in Mexico. This was recorded on December 4, 2025.

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 statewide outreach, blending his lifelong passions for public service, agriculture, law and policy. He’s also the author of Farmers Versus Foodies and a former USDA Chief of Staff.
“  It’s the public policy atmosphere that can help us the most, because frankly, it's the one that puts us most at risk, depending on what our labor policies and regulatory policies are among others.” – Ray Starling

Topics covered include:
An introduction to Starling and his work.
Starling’s journey to find his platform and voice within the public policy space to support the agriculture industry.
An exploration of the priorities Starling believes should be addressed in public policy to support the agriculture industry, including labor policies, farmer business practices and innovation.

Crop Report
The Blueberry Crop Report is an update on crop conditions and markets throughout important blueberry growing areas. You’ll hear from Luis Vegas in Peru and Mario Ramirez in Mexico. This was recorded on November 6, 2025.