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.