Cindy van Rijswick works for Rabobank’s global research team. Within RaboResearch Food & Agribusiness, Cindy is the Global Strategist for the fruit, vegetables and floriculture sectors and Farm Inputs. The global berry sector is one of her focus areas. She has published numerous reports and has spoken at various international fresh produce events on berries and other fresh produce topics, like the market for fruit genetics, sustainability and greenhouse production. Her research and analyses are key deliverables for Rabobank customers and prospects, both in the corporate and rural domains.
We put Cindy van Rijswick in the hot seat and fired 5 quick questions.
The resilience of the blueberry in the fresh produce department. Despite the inflationary environment, pressuring consumer budgets, blueberries did surprisingly well in terms of demand, even in pretty mature markets like the UK.
Cooperation among industry players, vertically as well as horizontally, will help address challenges and grasp opportunities.
Whenever I visit a berry event, I always notice the positive atmosphere among participants, even though many are also competitors. Although we are talking blueberries, people remain the foundation for doing business.
A general issue in the fresh fruit industry is ‘consistent quality’. Consumers often face disappointments when buying fresh fruit, including blueberries. Increasing quality and consistency is an ongoing challenge that requires collaboration across the entire supply chain, not just from growers.
On the production side, two key challenges (among many others) include labour costs and availability and climate change, which could potentially result in more frequent weather extremes, droughts, and increased pest pressure. Luckily, blueberry growers have many options for managing the challenges they face.
This is not specifically for 2025, but new varieties entering the market and ongoing improvements in mechanised harvesting solutions are very exciting and important. This is very much the case because these innovations, both on the variety side and mechanisation/automation side, are addressing serious challenges. New varieties are important to manage climate-related issues, improve quality, which is important for the industry’s long-term success, and increase labour efficiency, which is important to address the labour cost challenge.
In the blueberry industry, there is an interesting mix of companies involved in variety improvement, including universities, integrated berry players and private breeding companies, some specialising in berries or even blueberries and some focusing on a broader range of fruits. There is no single road to success, but research, a long-term horizon and a customer-driven approach are important for all these players.