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 Ben Escoe, president and CEO of Twin River Berries. Twin River is a vertically integrated berry company built on a foundation of family farming and global reach. Escoe leads a network of U.S. farms and partners across Mexico, Chile and Peru, working to ensure year-round availability of high-quality blueberries, raspberries and blackberries. He was first introduced to agriculture when his father started a small organic berry operation while Escoe was studying finance in college. He recognized through that experience that “farming requires a lot of innovation” and quickly developed a passion for blueberry production.“ Success starts with our farms and with our growers. When farms succeed, we succeed. Everybody in the supply chain succeeds. … It's not all about just operating for the sake of profits. It's about building an ecosystem that works for everybody involved in genetics and markets and supply chain. Those are all tools that feed that ecosystem, and if you can make the whole system thrive, then we feel that's when you've really built something lasting.” – Ben Escoe Topics covered include: An introduction to Escoe.The beginnings and evolution of Twin River Berries and how the company has grown and expanded over time. The opportunity the variety Peachy Blue is providing to the blueberry industry.Crop ReportThe 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 October 23, 2025.
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Berry Business Leadership — A Conversation With Garland Reiter Jr.
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 Garland Reiter Jr., chief commercial officer (CCO) for Driscoll’s of the Americas and a fourth-generation berry industry leader. Reiter is known for driving innovation, sustainability and strategic growth across the berry category, which spans many global markets. In his current role, he oversees sales strategy, market expansion, customer development and business solutions, driving revenue growth across North and South America.“ On a daily basis, the principal part of my job is to try to share with our customers the importance of focusing on the consumer. The importance there and how you get that message to a consumer is by branding. And so sharing with them the value chain that we invest on the genetics, we invest on the supply chain, and we invest on the brand . … The job of the first clamshell is to sell the next clamshell.” – Garland Reiter Jr. Topics covered include: An introduction to Reiter and his career in the berry industry. An exploration of Driscoll’s focus on expanding and elevating the eating experience for customers.A look at the tiered produce offerings available in Europe, and a discussion of whether that marketing model will make its way to U.S. grocery shelves.
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Meet the Blueberry Boost Accelerator Finalists
In this episode of “The Business of Blueberries,” Inez Be, U.S. Highbush Council (USHBC) and North American Blueberry Council (NABC) director of marketing, is joined by the finalists from the Blueberry Boost Accelerator. The accelerator was launched earlier this year to fuel forward-thinking product innovation and elevate blueberries as a hero ingredient by supporting visionary startups. From functional nutrition to clean-label desserts, the finalists exemplify the future of the power of blueberries. They’ll present their products during a “Shark Tank” style pitch competition this week at The Blueberry Convention.“ The accelerator program was designed to discover and support emerging startups who are innovating with blueberries for their consumer products.” – Inez Be Blueberry Boost Accelerator Finalists: Bonny Fiber Supplements has a fiber supplement flavored with blueberries to support the gastrointestinal tract.Beyond Berries has a frozen snack product used from upcycling a wide variety of blueberries.Pluff has a unique mousse-style blueberry dessert that’s high in protein.Sorbatto has a blue cream frozen dessert that uses highbush blueberries as its base.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, Mario Ramirez in Mexico and Luis Vegas in Peru. This was recorded on September 25, 2025.
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Inside Chile’s Blueberry Engine
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 Matias Allesandrini, commercial manager at LaFrut and a member of the Chilean Blueberry Committee (CBC) Board of Directors. With his dual roles, which are both commercial and technical, Allesandrini is uniquely positioned to connect on-farm decisions with market demands, helping growers adapt and exporters stay competitive.“ People are becoming more selective, and retailers know that repeat purchase depends on delivering a great eating experience. And I think particularly in Chile, and in the U.S., on the high-chill variety, we have a good advantage in it, which, in my personal opinion, it's where all the flavor is. So, while firmness and shelf life may guide initial selection from a logistic and commercial standpoint, flavor is what completes the picture.” - Matias Allesandrini Topics covered include: An introduction to Allesandrini and his work. An exploration of the LaFrut company, its family-based foundation and its journey toward an exporting focus.A discussion of the many challenges facing Chilean producers as they continue to pivot their focus to the global market.Crop ReportThe Blueberry Crop Report is an update on crop conditions and markets throughout important blueberry growing areas. Today you’ll hear from Caylan Huddleston in Oregon, Mario Ramirez in Mexico and Luis Vegas in Peru. This was recorded on September 18, 2025.
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Blueberries as a First Food: A Conversation With Minghua Tang, Ph.D.
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 Minghua Tang, Ph.D., and Leslie Wada, Ph.D. Tang is an associate professor and the Lillian Fountain Smith Endowed Chair in the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition at Colorado State University. Wada is the USHBC’s sr. director of nutrition and health research. Tang and Wada share some exciting results found in a study regarding complementary feeding of blueberries to infants. “ We saw these beneficial effects of the blueberry powder compared to the placebo in terms of the immunity, and we also saw that in terms of the gut microbiome. … So after eating the blueberry for seven months and after eating the placebo for seven months with the same background diet, if you take blueberry on top of what you eat, you have less of these pathogens in your gut, and that's what we saw.” — Minghua Tang, Ph.D. Topics covered include: Hear about a recent study that identified significant benefits for infants after being fed blueberries.Discover the benefits of introducing blueberries in the complementary feeding phase of infants, and the lifelong impacts it can have on health.Crop ReportThe Blueberry Crop Report is an update on crop conditions and markets throughout important blueberry growing areas. Today you’ll hear from Caylan Huddleston in Oregon, Mario Ramirez in Mexico and Luis Vegas in Peru. This was recorded on September 11, 2025.
The blueberry industry is like no other: passionate, resilient, and innovative. This podcast is your source for the latest information on the production, markets, research and technology related to the blueberry value chain. This is the Business of Blueberries.
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