A potential assessment increase, crop reports, educational meetings, industry awards and a “Shark Tank-style” startup competition all highlighted the 2025 Blueberry Convention on Oct. 9 in Seattle, Washington.
A total of 484 blueberry growers, marketers and other attendees gathered at the three-day conference at the Westin Hotel in downtown Seattle, hosted by the North American Blueberry Council, or NABC.
Modeled after the reality TV show “Shark Tank,” the pitch contest featured four startups using blueberries in food products each making 5-minute presentations to five judges.
“This is Blueberry Tank,” said Fred Schonenberg, CEO of VentureFuel, who moderated the contest. “It’s the same idea.”
Dylan Paul, the inventor of Pluff, a whipped high-protein dessert, won the contest and a $20,000 grant to help him scale up. Bonny, a company that makes a prebiotic fiber supplement powder, was runner-up and received $10,000. Both will receive mentoring, marketing support and networking help.
The other two contestants were Beyond Berries, a frozen snack of processed berries infused with dates, and Sorbatto Blue Cream, a frozen blueberry-based dessert.
One of the conference’s big talking points is a proposed doubling of the assessment that pays for the promotional activities of the U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council, or USHBC, to $36 per ton for fresh berries and $30 for processed berries. The money would be used to aggressively market blueberries to keep up with a surge in global production. A committee created to research the topic is expected to recommend the increase Friday.
The USHBC is an assessment-funded marketing program overseen by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The NABC is a nonprofit organization that represents the industry in governmental advocacy.
The U.S. harvested 723.4 million pounds of blueberries in 2025. Washington led with 190 million pounds, followed by Oregon at 165 million and Georgia at 114.2 million.
British Columbia produced 162.8 million pounds in 2025. Peru expected to harvest 440.3 million pounds for the 2025–26 crop season.
At an evening banquet, the industry granted the following awards:
—NABC Duke Galletta Award went to Bill Cline.
—NABC Alex Wetherbee Awards went to Janice Honigberg and Pat Goin.
—NABC Hall of Fame Awards went to Mike Mainland and Victor Moller (posthumously).
—USHBC Elizabeth White Award went to Lorrie Merker.
The Blueberry Convention continues Oct. 10 with more education and business meetings and Oct. 11 with field tours. •
