Blueberry Open Day Success in Oregon with Oregon Blueberry
During July, GPG proudly co-hosted an international Blueberry Open Day in Oregon, USA, alongside Oregon Blueberry
The event brought together a diverse group of attendees from 12 countries – including growers, nurseries, produce marketers, and agronomists. The group represented all major blueberry-growing Continents of the world.
Visitors were able to assess the performance of advanced selections under evaluation, covering low-chill, high-chill, and hexaploid types. Field walks and tasting sessions allowed close inspection of key traits such as berry firmness, size, bloom, flavour, scar, and plant architecture. Across the board, the focus remained on commercially relevant improvements to meet the evolving needs of the modern, fresh market and supply chain.
The event also marked an important milestone in the breeding programme, with the announcement of four new varieties scheduled for release in late 2025:
Two low-chill selections – both exhibiting excellent early-season timing, strong yields, and improved fruit firmness suitable for mechanical harvesting.
One high-chill selection – showing exceptional fruit size and superior flavour under standard production systems.
One hexaploid selection – combining high productivity with excellent post-harvest characteristics and strong fruit quality under commercial handling conditions
These genetics reflect several years of consistent trial performance across multiple environments and are expected to raise the bar for fruit quality, yield efficiency, and grower returns.
We thank the Oregon Blueberry team for their outstanding support and collaboration in making this event a success. Their contributions in trial management, data sharing, and hosting were instrumental in showcasing what is possible through focused breeding and international partnership.
We look forward to working with our licensed partners as we prepare these varieties for commercial rollout and continue to support the global industry with forward-looking innovation.
If you have any specific interest in these selections or would like to discuss further, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
