The country’s Highbush Blueberry Council is awarded US$1.5m to further develop export market opportunities
The US Highbush Blueberry Council (USHBC) has been awarded US$1.5mn from the second round of the US Department of Food and Agriculture’s (USDA) Regional Agricultural Promotion Program (RAPP).
Earlier in 2024, USHBC received US$1.3mn in RAPP funding, which is designed to diversify and expand market opportunities for US food and agricultural products in emerging global markets.
US Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack announced in October 2023 that USDA would use $1.2bn from the Commodity Credit Corporation to establish RAPP.
“The impact of funding for export promotion is profound for the blueberry industry,” said USHBC president Kasey Cronquist.
”This second-round grant will help the USHBC continue to build off of our successes in leading the effort to drive global consumption of blueberries.
“These grants are critical to our efforts to expand into markets like Vietnam, India and South Korea, and we’re grateful to have been a recipient of a grant for the second time this year as we continue to spread the word about the quality, versatility and health benefits of blueberries to new markets,” Cronquist added.
USDA received proposals for RAPP grants from a range of agricultural trade organisations, state regional trade groups, agricultural cooperatives and state agencies.
Proposals for the second round exceeded the available funding, with eligible entities submitting more than US$1bn in project requests.
Once all legal and administrative requirements are satisfied, second-round grants totalling US$300mn are expected to go to 67 partners.
