Oppy, a Vancouver, BC-based blueberry grower, has added fruit from North Carolina as one of its growing regions in order to maintain their year-round supply of the fruit.

With this, the company hopes to further bridge the gap between Mexico and the Pacific Northwest seasons.

Oppy’s will start selling the North Carolina blueberries beginning the last week of April and the first week of May, according to Category Manager of Blueberries, Tim Crane.

Joining the Oppy team in mid-2022 with over 15 years of experience as a global produce buyer in the U.S. and U.K., Crane is taking his retail-based knowledge and applying it to Oppy’s future offerings. 

“North Carolina is an excellent spot to expand our scope and provide an alternative to California blueberries," he said. "With a particularly long season window, it has the potential to be the most extensive deal on the east coast.” 

Available in both conventional and organic, and with ranging sizes, including jumbo, blueberries will be packed in the Ocean Spray label in all preferred formats. 

“We expect a strong inaugural season. Our grower-partner is using state-of-the-art sorting and grading machinery but continuing to hand pick, which will make for a superior quality pack,” said Crane. 

Having led the greenhouse category in recent years while elevating Canadian expansion into items like organic ginger and Spanish garlic, Executive Director of Berries and Canadian Category Development Aaron Quon added berries to his role at the beginning of the year after 15 years with Oppy. 

“I am excited to have made this transition and contribute to this growing category for Oppy and our customers,” said Quon.

Crane and Quon will work in tandem to bring this new item to market.