Driscoll's Drove $7 Billion Year-Round Berry Boom as Global Output Tripled Since 2000
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Jul 7
Driscoll's Drove $7 Billion Year-Round Berry Boom as Global Output Tripled Since 2000
1 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Jul 7
Summary
Driscoll’s 1989 Meadowood Declaration set a goal once seen as far-fetched: make strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and blackberries available in every season, everywhere.
That push helped turn berries from fragile local treats into a global staple, with world production tripling since 2000 and demand still outstripping supply, according to FAO data cited by the report.
The $7 billion California company underpinned the shift through intensive breeding—testing hundreds of varieties each year in Northern California—and decades of strain development dating back to its first patented strawberry in 1958.
Berry abundance is now visible from Costco shelves in South Korea to pastry kitchens in Dubai, though prices still vary sharply, from about $3 a pound in San Francisco to $35 in Dubai.
In the U.S., berries have become the fastest-growing produce category by sales and volume, showing how a company strategy from 1989 reshaped global eating habits.