In the context of the progress of the World Blueberry Tour, whose next destination will be the XXII International Blueberry Seminar to be held on May 25 and 26 in Guadalajara, Juan José Flores, director of Aneberries, calls on the international blueberry industry to agree and manage together in the perspective of responsibility and the promotion of increased consumption, as the main strategic axes of development.

Growth versus consumption

We spoke with the experienced Mexican executive about his expectations regarding the Guadalajara Seminar and what Aneberries' main objectives would be for the meeting.

Carrying out this type of training organized by Blueberries Consulting, through these specialized seminars, always brings a benefit to the places where it takes place, and in particular to the field of blueberry production here in Mexico.

I believe that one of the important issues is to analyze the world production scenario and the growth that each of the countries are experiencing. Of course, today we must pay close attention to Peru's growth. I think that through the International Blueberry Organization and the North American Blueberry Councils themselves, both the North American Council and the United States Highbush Blueberry Council, all together we should pay attention to what is going on with growth versus consumption. We must be very responsible in the care of this sector so that it continues to be a profitable and sustainable sector. We have to agree not to take it to a product that becomes comfort.So it is very relevant that we can all agree to do a big promotion to increase consumption, because consumption is not growing at the same rate as surfaces are growing.

The vision of Juan José Flores is very clear and aims to organize the blueberry industry globally with a view to making international agreements and implementing them in each country, to promote and promote the consumption of the fruit and, above all, the responsible growth of the crop.

The executive of the powerful Mexican organization also refers to the objectives of improving the quality of the crop, and emphasizes the other aspects that must also be considered when determining the quality of the blueberry production process for the world.

Take care of the true quality

The other important thing, and super relevant, is that we have to take care of the quality of the fruit, but the quality – in addition to that given by the genetics itself, in terms of flavour, in terms of physical presentation, or in terms of beauty – We have to be very responsible in production, in caring for people, in caring for the environment and in caring for natural resources in general. So, understand that a sector that wants to remain in time and be truly sustainable, should plan growth based on what is done to increase its consumption in the market.

I believe that although we are part of a large organization (almost all the countries within the IBO) and we are all working to increase consumption in the United States, there is no responsibility as such to ensure that this continues to be profitable, in short, I would say that it is very important that all the actors give it the importance that this has within the concept of caring for the environment, caring for resources.

We must work to delight the consumer, to delight him and to tell him: "this is synonymous with health, this is synonymous with nutrition and this is synonymous with strengthening your immune system, but it is also careful to bring social and economic well-being to the populations where crops are developed”, and I think there are still challenges there…

Juan José Flores, as director of one of the largest organizations of berry producers, has always maintained a global view of the industry, seeking the benefit of all actors, and has stood out for his view based on social impact and benefit economic value that blueberry cultivation means for the participants in the different stages of the production process.

"Our approach has to be designed as a global policy to increase consumption, but of a product that is returning well-being to the field where it is produced, including the environment and the communities," he concludes.