Best Animated Blue-Me

It took a lot of work to produce this cartoon!   Love the super Blue-Me with muscles!

Blueberry Devolution

Science has gone too far, they let it out of the jar.     I love it!

Blueberry Muffin Girl from Korea

Now, this is clever!    Check out this rendition of a blueberry muffin which shows the attachment of blueberries to beauty and shape.  Thanks to Hansol Cho in Korea for this design!  Nice!

A tribute to blueberries!

Koreans love blueberry and student Sunghoon Lee really, really loves blueberries!  This is her tribute!

Blueberry-mation

You all have heard of Claymation. Now here is a new twist of this tv animation method from Korea:  "Blueberrymation."
Take it away Jaeho Bang!  (Yes this is his real name!)

Blueberry Korean TV Docu-Drama

And now, here is Hansol Choi with a sure to be hit Bluerry Korean Docu-drama.

Blog Visitors Can't Get Enough of that Cute Mascot!

Here we go again!   And now here is: Jiyoung Hwang

Another Blue-MeVideo

Back by Popular demand, here are some more Blue-Me videos from our contest in Korea!  Which one do you like best.   And -- here is Minjung Lee!

USHBC Exhibits at Fine Foods Australia Exposition

Fine Food Australia has been around a long time and is the leading exposition for foods in Australia.  Thus was a first time for USHBC and it was a great place to meet the Australian food industry and a consumer who loves blueberries!   This exhibition occurred a few weeks after a major food safety disaster involving imported frozen blueberries (not from North America).   Food safety and the quality of  our berries was much appreciated and sought after by many of the 25,000 attendees from all over Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific.  Overall we met a lot of blueberry friendly companies and many are looking for specific items to increase their imports.   We have a lot of followup to do now.  Watch the shipments jump in Australia.

Here are just a few images from the event:

Show was held at the Olympic Park which is where the 2000 Olympic games were held.

Here is a photo of a Fine Foods Australia show long ago! 

Here is the Durian Village Exhibit in the Malaysian Pavilion -- luckily on the opposite side of the exhibit hall from USHBC!

Here is our Beautiful Blueberry booth in the USA pavilion.  We were the busiest booth at the show.

Australians are very local oriented and want to know where the food comes from.  Products show off the Aussie identity!

Here is the "Ghost Town" of the China Pavillion.   Australians do not seem to excited about Chinese origin items since a number of food safety incidents in recent times.  

Food Safety -- No problem this firm pasted the walls with certificates of all sorts.

Here is what Australians are looking for -- healthy natural foods are good for you!

Here is a neighbor exhibit which i was drawn to.   They featured an observation hive and bee beard demonstrations.  They were a lot of fun and bonded with us blueberry folk!

Now lets put some blueberry egg rolls into the menu Column B.   This is a Chinese company that attracted international attention with blueberries!

Australians rely on frozen berries in the off season which is our on season.  Australia is a large per  user of frozen and fresh blueberries.

You never know who you will run into at these expositions.   Here is a booth from Kaledonia which is a major frozen fruit packer in Turkey.   We also met companies from all over the South Pacific and even a food processor from Myanmar (Burma)

Blue Me is a hit at Korea Culinary Camp

Foodservice is one of the most promising categories for fresh and processed blueberries at home and abroad.   Here is an example how USHBC is working the Foodservice trade with participation in the annual Culinary Camp.   This event is sponsored by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) Agricultural Trade Office (ATO) in Seoul, South Korea.   This year more then 150 foodservice professionals attended and gained hand's on experience with US ingredients including blueberries!  

And yes -- Blue Me he mascot was a hit and passed out new Blue-Me Kitchen recipe books which has all sorts of great recipe uses for fresh, frozen and dried blueberries.

 USHBC Team Korea!  Kristy and Hyewon.

A visit to Woolworth's -- Sydney

Australians love sports, surf and blueberries!  Check out  these photos from a visit to the Woolworths grocery store in Suburban Sydney (Newington) , New South Wales, Australia.

Woolworth's in Suburban Sydney.  

Fresh Blueberries.   This section is vacant half the year as Australia currently does not allow imports from Northern Hemisphere producers.

Check out this single serving pack of fresh blueberries.

 Only one blueberry muffin left!

Blueberries in syrup are a popular item for home use.   (A good alternative when fresh are not in the market.

Only one flavor of cheesecake -- blueberry!

Australians love fruit juices.   Many of the offerings state that the juice is made from Australian fruits.

Here is a blueberry juice which is labeled: 25% blueberry juice concentrate!

Breakfast cereals from Australian companies such as Uncle Toby's feature dried blueberries.

Australians are a dried-fruit-consuming consumer.  Dried fruits, local and imported are popular everyday and also for Ramadan.  This looks like a great potential market for dried blueberries.

Here is an example of dried blueberries from the USA which are packed in a popular Australian brand of dried fruit.

Frozen polybag blueberries are the product of choice in months when fresh blueberries are not available.   

Organic frozen blueberries are in demand.

Blueberry yogurts are popular.  Note the label that touts that this yogurt is made from Australian milk!

Taiwan Dried Blueberry Package

Check out this new dried blueberry package in Taiwan!   The company tells it like it is!

Food Ingredients Asia Exposition -- US Blueberries Excite ASEAN Food Industry

Ten years ago, USHBC exhibited at one of the first Food Ingredients Asia shows in Bangkok, Thailand.   This is a show similar to the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) back home.  In 2015 -- we are back and what a difference ten years makes.
In 2005 we spent most time explaining what a blueberry was...Now we are showing how to use and where to buy!
The show was a business-to business venue and the USHBC booth was the busiest scene at the entire show and this made exhibitors and attendees notice!   We met with more than 150 companies from 25 countries with strong representation from Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam as well as Thailand. Our Mascot fans were a huge hit in the steamy climate!  Thanks to my old friend and fellow Hawaii grad Rey Santella of USDA-FAS Bangkok and Richard Lieu who represents Food Export Midwest and Northeast in the region for all the help and assistance!

Here are a few shots from the floor!

Above: USHBC booth before the rush!

Above: Blueberry flavors were front and center at several booths.

Here is a new item: Blueberry Juice Powder.   Dozens of companies came to the booth asking about a water soluble juice powder.   This type of product is sold throughout Southeast Asia normally in small packets.   A great idea for drum drying or crystallizing blueberry juice, puree or concentrate.

The exhibition was next door to the world's largest Chinese restaurant.   The Chinese have a great influence in Thailand and a huge flow of Chinese tourists into the country.

I was happy to see that i was staying in a "no-durian" hotel!

Run Girl Event in Tokyo

USHBC co-sponsored the 6th edition of the Frau Magazine Run-Girl Night Event in Tokyo held September 12 in Odaiba (Tokyo Bay).   The afternoon-evening run and event draws serious and recreational runners from throughout Japan and promotes a healthy lifestyle.   Here is a photo from the blueberry booth with Keiko and Chizuko of Asahi Agency in Japan who conduct USHBC promotions.  They worked furiously to serve yummy smoothies to the crows and also signed up dozens of new Facebook and Twitter likes!

Blueberry Curry -- Japan!

Japanese Curry is reported to be the most popular food for youngsters in Japan.   This is not to be confused with a Indian curry.   Japanese is a semi sweet curry with a small amount of meat and sometimes vegetables.   It had to happen!   Now the leading prepared curry company in Japan (SB) has launched a line of curry with blueberry.   Adds a nice fruity flavor that balances the capsicum heat!

My Favorite Coco-Ichi Curry (No blueberries but great curry -- # 7 heat level!)

Run Girl Event Live from Odaiba!

Check out this amateur video from the Run Girl Night in Tokyo, Sept 12.   Blueberries were a hit with our "core target audience!"   Bring on Blue-Me in 2016!

USHBC Works Korean Social Media

Check out the different social media sites used for enhancing USHBC marketing campaigns.

Facebook:

Twitter:

Instagram:

Blue-Me Drives In-store Sales of Fresh Blueberries

Everyone loves a mascot!   The USHBC promotions team in Korea is doing a fantastic job of integrating our new mascot, in store events and excitement into the major chain stores in South Korea.   Sales are soaring and our army of Blue-Mes are in the field making things happen!

Fresh Blueberry Momentum - Japan

USHBC is working to re-energize the fresh blueberry market in Japan with the new "Beautiful Blueberry" positioning.   Check out this home made video on preliminary results!

Blueberries for ASEAN

We are always talking about promotions of US Blueberries to the "heavyweight" BRICs countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa).   We are now looking to a promising market in the "welterweight class" Southeast Asia in what are called the ASEAN countries:   Association of Southeast Asian Nations.  They consist of:  Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar Philippines, Singapore Thailand and Vietnam.

Singapore is a very promising market for fresh blueberries and has consumed more than 650,000 kgs or fresh blueberries in 2014.  (about 1.4 million lbs).   This is a substantial amount for a country with 6.5 million population!   Singaporeans appreciate good food and are turning on to blueberries!

Philippines are a emerging market for processed blueberries.   This USA-friendly country of 98 million consumed more than 575,000 kg of frozen and dried blueberries. (1.2 million lbs.)   Much is going to the food industry including baking, dairy and snack foods.   

Thailand is a food industry market and blueberry is a popular ice cream flavor.  

USHBC has been working in the ASEAN markets for the past decade, mainly in the food industry with exhibitions and technical assistance.    Will post some photos from the recently completed Food Ingredients Asia Exposition in Thailand.  In the next year, we will also conduct retail promotions for fresh blueberries in Singapore and hopefully in the Philippines and Vietnam where we are working on market access.

Demand Determinants:

• Association of blueberries with health and beauty.
• Dried blueberry consumption during Ramadan in Islamic countries such as Indonesia and Malaysia.
• Rise of service industry culture such as call centers and high tech parks which boosting middle class spending.
• Regional food industries in countries such as Indonesia.

Watch this promising new market for US blueberries!