July marks National Blueberry Month, and with National Blueberry Day falling on July 8, there's plenty of reason to celebrate the sweet, antioxidant-rich berry that continues to earn its place in U.S. shopping carts.
From smoothies and salads to snack packs and baked goods, blueberries remain one of the most versatile and beloved fruits in the produce aisle, and data shows its popularity holding strong.
According to The Packer's Fresh Trends 2025 — its most comprehensive consumer report to date — 54% of surveyed shoppers reported purchasing blueberries in the past 12 months, a number that has remained steady since 2024 and is significantly higher than the 37% recorded for 2023.
The report, which surveyed more than 1,050 U.S. consumers (53% female; 47% male) across generations and income levels, reveals several noteworthy patterns in blueberry buying behavior:
- Higher-income households (earning more than $100,000 annually) are most likely to buy blueberries, with 64% reporting purchases.
- Age is a key factor, with consumers aged 50 and older most frequently reporting they bought blueberries in the previous 12 months — 60% of those aged 50 to 59 and 59% of those 60-plus reported purchases.
- Regional preferences vary slightly, with consumers in the West leading the way (60%) followed by the Midwest (56%), Northeast (53%) and South (49%).
- The presence of children in the household had little impact on blueberry purchase behavior.
- When it comes to farming practices, 52% of blueberry buyers preferred conventional, 20% chose only organic and 24% reported buying both.
These insights highlight blueberries' broad appeal across demographics, and for Steve Mantle, CEO and founder of Innov8.ag, they also signal opportunity. The Washington state-based agricultural data services company works with blueberry growers and breeders to implement actionable agtech solutions while also unlocking new insights by aggregating data across technology platforms.
Mantle says Innov8.ag is the lead collaborator since 2022 working in partnership with the U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council (USHBC) to implement the BerrySmart Fields program, a collaborative experience between blueberry growers, researchers and tech providers to optimize farming operations, focusing on soil, soil nutrients, yield distribution, weather, chemicals and labor.
“Blueberries are at a precipice of a tech and data revolution driving more efficient, sustainable and, ultimately, profitable berry production,” Mantle says.
“In the last few years alone, we've seen everything from robotic field transporters, automated harvest scales and solar-powered blueberry harvesters aimed at making production and labor more efficient to high-definition soil and crop mapping for detailed field nutrient mapping and highly accurate bud, bloom and berry counts,” he adds. “Last summer, we had over 200 growers attend the USHBC and Oregon State University BerrySmart Fields Day event to see these technologies for themselves. We expect just as many, if not more, for this year's event coming up this month. The blueberry industry is hungry for actionable solutions to its biggest pain points.”
The next step — connecting the data dots between disparate technologies — is where Mantle says they are seeing a real revolution across the entire industry, impacting everything from breeding, production practices and field management to how blueberry businesses market and sell their products.
For instance, Mantle says Innov8.ag has been spearheading several data-focused pilot programs for USHBC BerrySmart Field's program, using artificial intelligence to analyze data from satellite imagery and on-farm collection to help understand the seasonal variation of blueberry farms, including harvest maturity dates by varietal as well as the size of blueberry production by region.
“This sort of data-powered ‘reality check' gives blueberry businesses the real-time forecasting they need to make smart, informed decisions that maximize their seasonal profitability and deliver to consumers the high-quality, sustainably produced blueberries they are demanding,” he says.
Blueberries Add Billions to the U.S. Economy as Consumers Grab a Boost of Blue
Blueberry growers and importers deliver a powerhouse crop that contributes nearly $9.1 billion in annual economic impact to the U.S. economy, or nearly $25 million every day, according to reports issued from the USHBC.
“The new reports reaffirm what our industry has long recognized — blueberry growers have a powerful and positive impact on the U.S. economy,” says Kasey Cronquist, president of the USHBC. “Thanks to the ongoing commitment of growers and our import partners, blueberries are available to consumers year-round, contributing to spending that helps create and maintain thousands of jobs and delivers billions in economic activity nationwide.”
In addition to the $9.1 billion in total economic impact, which reflects increased business activity from both U.S.-grown and imported blueberries, according to a news release, the new economic impact study also shows:
- Jobs — The U.S. highbush blueberry industry, supported by both domestic growers and international import partners, creates and sustains 61,676 full-time equivalent jobs each year. These jobs are a result of the business activities of growers and the multiplier effect that spending generates across a variety of farming and non-farming sectors.
- Labor income — $3.3 billion in labor income is generated annually by the business activities of growers, equating to $9.1 million each day. These are dollars that go to wages and salaries for new employment, as well as expanded incomes to those already in the labor force for activities such as overtime pay. These dollars are then diffused throughout the U.S. economy as the funds are spent on crucial goods and services such as food, housing, transportation and health care.
- Indirect business taxes — Each year, about $277.9 million in indirect business taxes, not including income taxes, are generated by the U.S. highbush blueberry industry, from both domestic growers and import partners. These collective indirect business taxes translate to about $761,325 per day.
“The economic impact of blueberry growers is both far-reaching and deeply rooted in the U.S. economy,” Cronquist says. “From job creation to tax revenue, blueberry growers fuel sustained economic activity in every region of the country.”
In the U.S. specifically, the country's highbush blueberry industry accounts for $6.7 billion in annual economic impact, or about $18.3 million per day, while creating and sustaining 49,260 full-time equivalent jobs supported by the business activities of U.S. growers, the release said. Additionally, U.S. highbush blueberry growers generate nearly $2.4 billion in labor income each year, equating to about $6.7 million per day, and indirect business taxes generated by grower spending totals nearly $193.1 million annually, or $529,000 per day, not including income taxes, the release said.