The US Highbush Blueberry Council (USHBC) will target Asia with an increase in funding from the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) for export market development.
The USDA FAS notified the USHBC that its 2021 Market Access Programme (MAP) funding award will increase 44 per cent to US$299,195, up from US$207,449 in 2020 and US$211,540 in 2019.
The USHBC said it will use the additional funds to expand promotions of fresh, frozen, dried and further processed blueberries in targeted export markets throughout Asia.
Major markets include Japan, South Korea and emerging markets throughout South-East Asia (ncluding newly open markets like Vietnam and the Philippines.
Alicia Adler, vice president of the USHBC said the increase would be a significant boost as the industry looked to make progress in a number of Asian markets.
“This increase is a huge win for USHBC’s international efforts and is reflective of the industry’s commitment to developing export markets for US highbush blueberries,” Adler said.
“From the formation of the USHBC export committee in 2019 to the use of USDA FAS Trade Programmes like MAP, Technical Assistance for Specialty Crops (TASC) and the Emerging Markets Program (EMP) to address technical barriers to trade, USHBC is making strides in export market development for US blueberry growers.”
