Naturipe Farms Hosts Berry Breeding Tour, Spotlights Breeding Innovations at Alma, Georgia, Trial Site; Derrin Wheeler Comments

SALINAS, CA - Breeding berries is not for the faint of heart. To find one viable variety, breeders might start with as many as 10,000 seedlings and wait five to seven years for their hard work to bear fruit. But when it does? The results speak for themselves.

MBG Marketing, the grower-owned cooperative and founding partner of Naturipe Farms, recently hosted an event highlighting blueberry breeding and the importance of creating proprietary varieties. Naturipe continues to showcase its strategy to turn consumers into lifelong berry eaters by pulling back the curtain on how innovation is making better blueberry varieties.

The event centered around Berry Blue Plant Genetics’ test plot in Alma, Georgia. Berry Blue, MGB’s blueberry breeding program, has been focusing on developing premium blueberry genetics for the past 25 years.

“Today, consumption is about two and a half to three and a half pounds per person per year, which is really a drop in the bucket,” said Derrin Wheeler, Chief Operating Officer, MGB Marketing, on the tour. “What we’re doing at Berry Blue is enhancing that consistent flavor and mouthfeel for the consumer so they come back and it becomes an everyday staple of their diet.”

The 20-acre trial site in Alma, Georgia, was established in 2021 to supplement the primary site in Grand Junction, Michigan, which has been in operation since 2002. At both sites, the company explicitly breeds for consistency, larger size, better color, longer shelf-life, and superior taste.

Research and development are central to Naturipe Farms’ growth. Beloved for its domestic berries, the company’s proprietary offerings like Mighty Blues and Color Rush have added vigor to the category.

MGB and Berry Blue also continue to collaborate across the blueberry industry, developing varieties to meet the needs of growers in Florida, Georgia, Michigan, and beyond.

To learn more about the ways companies are driving the industry forward, stick with ANUK.