Family Tree Farms has savvy blueberry strategy

Overview of blueberries from Mexico in the U.S. market, complemented by charts from Agronometrics. Original published on March 5, 2024.

Family Tree Farms will be exhibiting at the Southeast Produce Council’s Southern Exposure show this week, sampling its current Mexican blueberry and blackberry production at Booth No. 338.

“We are also looking forward to meeting with a broad cross-section of our customer base,” said Doug LaCroix, director of sales and marketing for the Reedley, CA-based company. “The SEPC is well attended, and for this reason, is our favorite U.S. regional show.”

Mexico represents one of three countries where the company is currently growing its proprietary blueberry varieties. 

“These varieties have set themselves apart in the marketplace with their outstanding flavor and crunch,” LaCroix said. “Between Peru, Mexico, and the United States, we are able to produce our southern highbush varieties (suited for warm climates) year-round, with Mexico filling the January through mid-May time window.”

Source: USDA Market News via Agronometrics.
(Agronometrics users can view this chart with live updates here)

Blueberries have enjoyed robust growth over the past 15-20 years and Family Tree Farms believes that the next iteration of demand will come from varieties that consistently delight the consumer, delivering on superior flavor and crunch. 

“This strategy has been successful, with demand far outpacing our ability to supply,” LaCroix said. “We are addressing this demand by planting significantly more acreage in Peru, Mexico, and the United States, and will be producing four times our current production levels over the next five years to help satisfy this demand.”

2023 was fraught with regional weather issues that affected industry blueberry supply, specifically during the spring and fall windows. Thankfully, the company’s blueberry growing regions and varieties were not impacted, and it was able to provide its partners with additional volumes in these challenging windows. 

“Additionally, we successfully introduced a new blackberry variety in 2023,” LaCroix said. “This variety was very well received and stands out due to its excellent flavor and size. We are excited to develop our blackberry program further as we begin production in new regions, that will get us closer to year-round production of great tasting blackberries.”

For 2024, the Mexican blueberry and blackberry crop look to be full, though are running historically late. 

“We expect peak production in March and April, as we transition to U.S. production in May and June,” LaCroix said.

California Stone Fruit has long been the backbone of Family Tree Farms and continues to be very important to the company.

“Our world-class R&D department continues to evaluate proprietary selections from dozens of international breeding programs, with the best flavors being added to our commercial plantings each year,” LaCroix said. “This effort has led to exciting new plumcots, apriums, donut peaches & nectarines, plum cherries, as well as new high-flavored varieties of peaches and nectarines.”

In early March, it was too early to decipher the size, timing and quality of the upcoming CA stone fruit crop, but the company is optimistic and has some new things in the ground.

“As our R&D department has been hunting for flavor, they’ve uncovered some exciting opportunities in new commodities for Family Tree,” LaCroix said. “We’ve just planted our first commercial acreage of a proprietary red & yellow-flesh kiwi. We’ve also identified some high flavored mango varieties that we intend to plant soon.”

Elsewhere around the company, Leighton Dill has been named its new marketing manager.

“Family Tree Farms is poised for significant growth in the marketplace, and we are excited to add Leighton’s marketing leadership to the Family Tree Farm’s team,” LaCroix said.

The News in Charts is a collection of stories from the industry complemented by charts from Agronometrics to help better tell their story.

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