Rainier Fruit Company’s Tyler Johnson Discusses Organic Blueberry Program

SELAH, WA – Summer is my favorite time of year for one reason alone, and that is blueberries. The domestic season promises the sweet flavor I know and love, and Rainier Fruit Company has the organic program to match the quality and taste shoppers are looking for.

“We’ll have our biggest volumes mid-July into August with our season typically wrapping up the end of September,” Tyler Johnson, Commodity Manager, explained to me. “Our season was delayed from the spring but volume is picking up every day. Crop looks great on the quality side. We handpick all our Organic blueberries, which allows us to harvest at the optimal time for great quality and freshness.”

Grown in Washington State in the rainshadow of the Cascades, Rainier’s organic blueberries are a testament to its farmers’ innovation and tenacity. Although each year presents its own challenges, Rainier believes in the strength of its organic blueberry program and the team making it possible.

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

Inflation is driving up costs, as Tyler told me, but demand is still strong and outpacing supply.

“Rising costs are one of the biggest challenges growers are facing, but that’s nothing new for any industry,” Tyler noted. “Our program is about growing high-quality, hand-picked blueberries, and there is no easy button to that.”

Consumers love organic blueberries, and educating them on the levels of care Rainier puts into its organic program is going to bring them one step closer to adding that product to the basket.

“Showing how we grow the best varietals, to hand picking, and the cooling centers on site in the fields will help demonstrate the different inputs into growing blues,” Tyler said. “We are one grower: all organic, all summer. It’s simple, but it’s the foundation of our blueberry program.”

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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