Unlocking Blueberry Industry Growth: Other Commodity Leaders Weigh In

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 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 for the future, and how they’re making those visions a reality. By looking outside of the blueberry industry, we get insights into how other commodities are thinking about what’s next and making progress toward their goals.

“One of the things I would want you to think about is to avoid complacency because you've been successful. I think one of the biggest challenges we face in agriculture is (thinking) because we had a good year, now we’ve got it. Or we've had a good run, now we've got it. Success can put us into a complacent mindset, and that probably is what hurts us as industry leaders the most. We cannot get complacent when things are good.” – Robert Verloop

Topics covered include:

• Introductions to Verloop, Luque and Waycott, and their commodities work.
• Understanding the value of data across different agriculture industries, and the benefits of collecting and analyzing data.
• Exploring how different industries define and pursue the visions they’ve created, and what the blueberry industry can learn from their efforts

Crop Report

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, Eric Stafne reporting for Louisiana and Mississippi, Mario Ramirez in Mexico, Elise Oliver in California, TJ Hafner in Oregon and Matt Macrie in New Jersey. This was recorded on April 12, 2023.

The Blueberry Boost

The Blueberry Industry Leadership Program is designed to elevate incoming leaders in the blueberry industry by providing in-depth training, industry education and connection to other ag leaders across the supply chain. The program offers immersive, personalized leadership training in the course of a year-long fellowship, and creates camaraderie among the fellows, helping them form a lifelong support network.

The application process for the second cohort of the leadership program opens May 1. Ideal candidates are passionate individuals who want to have an active role in leading the next era of growth for blueberries. Growers, both domestic and international, processors, handlers, exporters and buyers can apply.

Learn more about the Blueberry Industry Leadership Program, then apply by May 1!