U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council Works to Protect Industry During Cyclospora Situation

The U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council (USHBC) is working with government officials to protect the blueberry industry during the cyclospora investigation.

Earlier this week, Donald Prater, the acting deputy commissioner at FDA, told attendees at the annual meeting of the International Association for Food Protection “the U.S. food supply is safe.” The New York Times published the quote.

The NABC responded to Dr. Prater to thank him for that statement, while asking for his continued leadership in helping to restore public confidence during the intense media coverage of the cyclospora outbreak. We also relayed that misinformation and/or a lack of information has had a dramatic impact on produce sales broadly, including blueberries.

Finally, we asked for an opportunity to meet at an appropriate time to explore ways the industry and FDA can work together to better navigate future food safety events to maintain consumer confidence in products not directly implicated in investigations. We will follow up on that communication.

With the number of cyclospora cases in the United States hitting record levels, the media coverage continues. However, we are seeing a shift to broader stories about Taco Bell’s business recovery and the outbreak’s longer term implications. We continue to monitor the news closely, and remain in close contact with the International Fresh Produce Association’s (IFPA) food safety team to gather real-time intelligence. If any misinformation surfaces about blueberries, we will immediately respond and correct what needs to be corrected based on the facts and scientific evidence available.

On the USHBC side, our largest retail activation period of the year – centered around National Blueberry Month and continuing through peak blueberry season – is well underway, and retailers are not backing away. They are participating, promoting, displaying, advertising and demonstrating a strong vote of confidence in the blueberry category. Here are few key highlights:

Our reach is national and includes execution across major banners. USHBC-supported promotions are showing up with retailers including Walmart, Sam’s Club, Target, Sprouts, Hy-Vee, Giant Eagle, Harris Teeter, Schnucks, The Fresh Market, Raley’s and multiple Albertsons banners. The plan reaches more than 19,000 stores nationwide.

Retailers are activating blueberries across the full shopper journey. This is not just one ad or one display. The work includes branded ads, sponsored search, digital banners, video campaigns, social media, email, landing pages, in-store signage, demos, shelf tags, secondary displays, POS, sales contests and even in-store TV/radio.

These partnerships send an important signal to the market – retailers still see blueberries as a traffic-driving, high-value category. Retailers do not dedicate promotional space, digital media, displays, contests and shopper marketing support to categories they are trying to avoid. This level of activity shows continued confidence in blueberries.

We will stay on top of all outbreak developments and keep the industry informed, while ensuring your marketing engine – on the USHBC side – continues to work as hard as possible on your behalf. If you have questions or would like to pass along other related information, please reach out to me directly.

— Kasey Cronquist, USHBC president