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 once again by Luis Miguel Vegas, general manager of Proarándanos, the Peruvian Blueberry Growers & Exporter Association. Vegas leads the charge in representing and promoting Peru's blueberry sector globally and shares in our weekly crop reporting. In this episode, provides critical data and strategic insights from the Peruvian blueberry industry.

“The decision that we have made is to update our forecast on a monthly basis. … What we want is to inform the markets, to inform the industry as a whole, so that everybody's prepared, and we think the best way right now to do that is to go with a short-term forecast based on the variability that El Niño can affect our numbers.” – Luis Miguel Vegas

Topics covered include:
An introduction to Vegas and his work at Proarándanos.
A discussion of Peru’s blueberry production volume and where it’s exported globally.
The differences between El Niño in 2023 and the expected impact if a repeat event occurs.

Crop Report
The Blueberry Crop Report is an update on crop conditions and markets throughout important blueberry growing areas. Today you’ll hear from Emilie Parkanzky in Michigan, TJ Hafner in Oregon, Luis Vegas in Peru and Sunny Brar in British Columbia. This was recorded on July 30, 2026.

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 Dana Concepcion, senior director of fresh and frozen at Walmart Connect. Concepcion sits at the intersection of fresh merchandising and modern digital advertising. In her role, she drives advertising growth across some of the company’s most strategic categories, partnering up with leading produce, meat, frozen and bread manufacturers to deliver data-driven, omnichannel marketing solutions. She joins the podcast to discuss aligning blueberry campaigns to seasonal supply fluctuations, leveraging co-branded recipe campaigns and measuring incremental growth.
“ What makes our relationship so unique is that there's a real shared goal that we all have. It's a 360 collaboration between our team at Walmart Connect, the merchant and buyer teams at Walmart, the blueberry council, the growers, everyone all together, and the shared goal there is really growing overall blueberry consumption.” – Dana Concepcion

Topics covered include:
An introduction to Concepcion and her role with Walmart Connect.
How Walmart Connect uses real-time shopper and purchase data across omni-channel ad formats.
Opportunities to align blueberry campaigns to seasonal supply fluctuations, leveraging co-branded recipe campaigns.
How Walmart measures incremental growth through sales lift, new-to-category buyers and repeat purchases.
How Walmart uses in-store tactics like deli/bakery screens and product demos to drive impulse buying.

Crop Report
The 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, Emilie Parkanzky in Michigan and Alan Schreiber in Washington. This was recorded on July 23, 2026.

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 Tim Bucher, CEO and founder of Agtonomy. Together, they discuss how autonomy and physical AI are reshaping farm work in specialty crops, including blueberries. Bucher discusses how he brings together his background in farming and technology to provide innovation that is helping farmers economically implement autonomy on their farms.
“ As a farmer, I don't want a startup company to sell me equipment. I want my trusted brands. And so we designed Agtonomy as a software platform to work with global tier-one equipment manufacturers to help turn their equipment into real autonomous robots.” – Tim Bucher
Topics covered include:
An introduction to Bucher.
The ideas that led to the creation of Agtonomy, and why their partnership model is making this technology more accessible for growers.
A case study of how Okanogan Specialty Fruits is using Agtonomy in their Washington orchards.

Crop Report
The Blueberry Crop Report is an update on crop conditions and markets throughout important blueberry growing areas. Today you’ll hear from Derrin Wheeler in Georgia, Emilie Parkanzky in Michigan, Alan Schreiber in Washington, T.J. Hafner in Oregon, Alec Arena in New Jersey, Sonny Brar in British Columbia and Luis Vegas in Peru. This was recorded on July 16, 2026.

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 largest growers in the state. Over the past five years, he has helped the team at Straughn Farms adapt to the ever-evolving blueberry industry through innovations in the field and the packing house. He joins us to share his journey in the blueberry industry, the reason he joined the Blueberry Leadership Program and how he has overcome recent challenges in his operation.
“ I have always wanted to have a greater impact on our nation. So, what better way to do that than to get with marketers and other growers and all the players in our industry, and let's all work together to build this thing up and keep it going in the right direction for generations to come.” – Fletcher Simmons

Topics covered include:
An introduction to Simmons.
How Simmons learned about the Blueberry Leadership Program and what he hopes to achieve by participating in it.
The challenges faced by growers in the southeast when a severe freeze hit their crop this year.

Crop Report
The Blueberry Crop Report is an update on crop conditions and markets throughout important blueberry growing areas. Today you’ll hear from Ryan Rainey in Michigan, TJ Hafner in Oregon, Alec Arena in New Jersey, Michelle Borges in California, Kristen Brinkley in North Carolina, Sonny Brar in British Columbia, Luis Vegas in Peru and Mario Ramirez in Mexico. This was recorded on July 2, 2026.

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 grower involvement, serving on USHBC’s Industry Engagement Committee and helping connect growers more directly to the work being done on behalf of the category. Vander Kooi shares his valuable perspective on where the blueberry industry is headed and the opportunities he sees ahead.

“I think a lot of growers, when they're selling to a marketer, they're thinking that marketer is the customer. And what really comes home when we're at the USHBC meetings is that our customer is the mother and the kids and the parents that are eating the blueberries at home. Our customer is the end user, and I don't think we always think of it that way and have thought about that in the past. … We need to increase the demand and increase the ability for the end consumers to enjoy blueberries more, and we need to do that advertising. And I see USHBC is really the only fair way that everybody participates in that. ” - Denny Vander Kooi

Topics covered include:
An introduction to Vander Kooi and his volunteer roles with the USHBC.
The opportunities he sees for the blueberry industry, and how producers can optimize household consumption.
The extent of grower oversight when it comes to USHBC budgets and expenditures.

Crop Report
The Blueberry Crop Report is an update on crop conditions and markets throughout important blueberry growing areas. TJ Hafner in Oregon, Michelle Borges in California, Alan Schreiber in Washington, Alec Arena in New Jersey, Derrin Wheeler in Georgia, Kristin Brinkley in North Carolina, Ryan Rainey in Michigan, Pat Goin in Indiana, Mario Ramirez in Mexico, Luis Vegas in Peru and Sunny Brar in British Columbia. This was recorded on June 25, 2026.