Jul 25, 2025
Blueberry industry releases national impact study
A new report provides a detailed look into the blueberry industry’s economic contributions to the U.S.
A study commissioned by the Folsom, California-based U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council (USHBC) examined the blueberry industry’s economic impact on the national, state and country levels.
The study, “The Economic Impact of Blueberry Growers and Importers on the United States Economy,” found that 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 a news release.
“The new reports reaffirm what our industry has long recognized — blueberry growers have a powerful and positive impact on the U.S. economy,” Kasey Cronquist, USHBC president, said in the release. “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.
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 nonfarming sectors. The job number does not include jobs supported by blueberry processors or handlers.
Labor income
$3.3 billion in labor income is generated annually by the business activities of growers, equating to $9.1 million each day, 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. The dollars are diffused throughout the U.S. economy as the funds are spent on crucial goods and services such as food, housing, transportation and health care.
“The economic impact of blueberry growers is both far-reaching and deeply rooted in the U.S. economy,” Cronquist said in the release. “From job creation to tax revenue, blueberry growers fuel sustained economic activity in every region of the country.”
Eight states lead the way in U.S. highbush blueberry production, each contributing significantly to their state’s local economy and to the industry’s overall economic footprint. According to the study, the states account for a substantial share of economic impact and jobs created.
Commissioned by officials from the USHBC, the study was conducted in April by Dennis Tootelian, Ph.D., emeritus professor of marketing and former director of the Center for Small Business in the College of Business Administration at California State University, Sacramento.
The analysis is based on U.S. highbush blueberry acres in production and in development, as well as spending by companies that are importing blueberries. Projections are based on annual average expenditures, which means the impact is expected to occur each year that such spending occurs. National acreage statistics were secured from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Blueberry growers’ acreage, costs and net expenditures, according to a USHBC blueberry market study,
Projections are based on annual average expenditures, which means that the impact is expected to occur each year. Blueberry growers spend an average of more than $2.7 billion annually in the U.S. for acres in production and acres in development, equating to more than $7.5 million per day, according to the report.
The $9.1 billion annual economic impact of blueberry growers equates to $24.9 million per day and does not include the economic impact of handlers and other intermediaries that help bring blueberries from farm to market. Thus, the total impacts shown below are conservative in nature, according to the
