and effectively to themedia and consumers. The effort started in the early 1960s and culminated in formation of theU.S.Highbush Blueberry Council in 2000. “Never back away frommaking the


investment inmarket-building activity,” says Shelford. “Formost growers, the last thing they think of puttingmoney into ismarketing. They’ll put their money into growing issues, disease and production, butmarketing is a really tough sell.” “I commend the B.C. Blueberry


Council for their efforts in developing internationalmarkets and increasing domestic consumption,” he adds. That has to bemusic to the ears of


council executive director,Debbie Etsell, who has beenworking tirelesslywith her to promotemarket access for B.C. blueberries around theworld. In September 2013, the council


completed its firstmission to India, where reps participated in Annapoorna –World of Food India, one of India's largest exhibitions in the food and beverage industry. “Thiswas the first time, the council


has ever been able to promote blueberries and have fresh samples


available,” says Etsell. “Most people in India don’t knowwhat a blueberry looks like. Itwas an amazing experience.” During the visit toMumbai andDelhi,


the B.C. Blueberry Councilwas able to meetwith both the federal trade commissioner and trade representatives fromthe provincial government, aswell as retailers, suppliers and fruit buyers. “B.C. has been increasing activity and


building relationships in India,” says Etsell. “Overall, itwas a really good first mission, andwewill build upon that in the future.We are also looking at having someone there on the groundworking for us.” Work continues to get fresh-market


access to China and SouthKorea. Both nations are in the process of doing pest risk assessments (PRA). In the meantime, the primary challenges in thesemarketswill be increasing demand and securing agreements to reduce trade tariffs andmake frozen productmore competitive. “Canadawas the first country to sit


downwithKorea for a free trade agreement, andwe still don’t have one, but Chile andU.S. have finished theirs,” Etsell explains. “It’s difficult for our producers to compete on quality alone


when our product costs close to 50 percentmore. It’s very difficult tomake deals.” “The Canada brand holdsweight in


internationalmarkets, but evenwith Japan, our second largest partner outside of theU.S.. for blueberries, as tariffs are reduced for to other countries it becomesmore challenging to keep those relationships,” she adds. One of the bright lights in developing


markets is the EuropeanUnion,where the free trade agreement is 18 to 24 months away fromcompletion. The reduction in tariffs under that agreement is expected to create significant demand for frozen product in Scandinavian countrieswhere yogurt is very popular. Sales to Belgiumand France also have increased since the B.C. Blueberry Council attended SIAL Paris in 2012. While growers are starting their


season, preparing to growhigh-quality berries for the lowest possible cost of production, Etsellwill be on the road this spring drumming up business. At the end of February, the councilwill attendGulfood inDubai,UAE, for the first time and then return to Japan for FoodEx inMarch.


British Columbia Berry Grower • Spring 2014 11


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