Show Notes
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.
More from 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 by Luke Lindberg, the former USDA's Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs, who’s now serving as executive director of the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP). In his role with USDA, Lindberg worked alongside Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins to expand market access, strengthen American agriculture's competitiveness and reduce our nation's agricultural trade deficit. Cronquist and Lindberg have traveled together on USDA agricultural trade missions to Mexico, Australia and New Zealand. “I've been really fortunate to be able to, in this position, represent what I think is one of been the most fun constituents to ever work with, which is America's farmers and ranchers and growers all around the country.” – Luke Lindberg Topics covered include: An introduction to Lindberg and his efforts at USDA. The impact of U.S. trade negotiations and agreements, and how they directly affect American farmers. The connections between food security and national security.
In this episode of “The Business of Blueberries,” Kasey Cronquist, president of the U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council (USHBC) and the North American Blueberry Council (NABC), welcomes back Cort Brazelton of Fall Creek Farms and Nursery. A regular contributor to the podcast, Brazelton brings his characteristic energy and insights to the conversation, which covers recent changes at Fall Creek — including his decision to leave space for new leadership. Brazelton describes rapid global blueberry growth and a bimodal market where “better blueberries” command higher price floors, driven by genetics, execution and consistent quality at scale.
In this special episode of “The Business of Blueberries,” Kasey Cronquist, president of the U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council (USHBC) and the North American Blueberry Council (NABC), delivers a keynote on why industry progress comes from people working together, and shares USHBC’s role in growing the entire blueberry category. Cronquist outlines the need to balance a 148% supply increase over 15 years with demand growth through health research, advertising, data and market development, emphasizing “a home for every berry” across fresh and frozen, and new usage occasions.
In this episode of “The Business of Blueberries,” Kasey Cronquist, president of the U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council (USHBC) and the North American Blueberry Council (NABC), is joined by Oregon Blueberry Sales Manager Doug McCann. Oregon Blueberry is one of the largest wholesale blueberry nurseries in North America. McCann brings deep expertise in supply-and-demand forecasting, and his work supports decision-making across the blueberry supply chain. He’s also an active participant in industry conversations, regularly engaging through research, conferences and fellow growers to stay ahead of emerging trends.
In this episode of “The Business of Blueberries,” Kasey Cronquist, president of the U.S. Highbush Blueberry 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 partnered with VentureFuel last year to launch the Blueberry Boost Accelerator, a first-of-its-kind program supporting emerging brands using blueberries as a prominent ingredient. Schonenberg reflects on the first year of the program, and builds anticipation for the second accelerator cohort and live pitch competition that will take place at The 2026 Blueberry Convention.