This was an article written by Wish Farms for the North American Raspberry and Blackberry Association Spring Newsletter, The Bramble.
In caneberries, genetics increasingly determine who wins and who struggles. Yield alone is no longer enough. Growers, shippers, and retailers need varieties that balance productivity with flavor, shipping durability, and adaptability across regions. At the same time, consumers are demanding better eating quality, and they are voting with repeat purchases.
Against that backdrop, Berry Sweet Research (BSR), the proprietary breeding arm, partnered with Wish Farms, is making measurable progress toward the next generation of raspberries and blackberries designed specifically for modern commercial realities.
A Breeding Program Built for Commercial Outcomes
BSR’s program is structured with a clear objective to develop varieties that perform from field to the end consumer. That means aligning genetics with the needs of every link in the supply chain.
At the helm is Carlos Fear, a renowned plant breeder and horticulturalist with thirty-five years of industry experience. Fear spent much of his career at Driscoll’s, where he played a pivotal role developing industry leading berry varieties. He is the inventor or co-inventor on thirty-five patents spanning raspberries, blackberries, and strawberries. Collaborating in the breeding program is Lead Plant Breeder, Terrence Frett who previously worked as a grape breeder at Sun World.
“Our work starts with flavor, but it does not end there,” said Carlos Fear, Director of Berry Genetics at BSR. “A variety has to deliver exceptional eating quality while also performing in the field and holding up through harvest, packing, and shipping. If it fails at any point, it does not move forward.”
Each year, the program evaluates more than 10,000 seedlings from over 100 controlled crosses. From that pool, only a small fraction advances, with selections rigorously screened across yield, postharvest performance, fruit quality, and flavor. In 2025 alone, the team collected more than 300,000 data points, reflecting a disciplined, data driven approach more commonly associated with long established public breeding institutions.
BSR integrates modern tools such as digital phenotyping, QR coded plant tracking, and molecular markers for early disease screening into traditional breeding expertise. This allows the team to move faster while maintaining confidence that advanced selections are built for real world commercial conditions.
Testing Where Growers Actually Grow
A defining strength of the program is its multi-location trial network. Advanced selections are evaluated in commercial style environments across Salinas and Santa Maria, California, as well as Jocotepec, Jalisco, Mexico.
A variety that excels in only one environment introduces risk. BSR’s approach prioritizes selections that deliver stable performance across climates, production systems, and management styles, giving growers confidence that trial results will translate at scale.
“We are not interested in varieties that look great in one location or year and fail other times,” Fear said. “Consistency is what makes a great variety of commercial importance.”
Raspberry Pipeline Yield Gains Without Flavor Tradeoffs
Raspberries have shown particularly strong momentum. Several advanced selections in 2025 significantly outperformed industry standards in total yield, fruit size, shipping performance, and flavor scores. Importantly, multiple selections delivered these gains consistently across all trial locations.
Key improvements include higher primocane yields without sacrificing berry size, improved shipping durability into longer distribution lanes, and flavor scores that consistently exceed standard commercial varieties.
As a result, three leading raspberry selections entered large scale trials in 2026. These trials will validate performance under commercial management, support higher volume postharvest testing, and generate early customer feedback, all critical steps on the path to commercialization.
Blackberries Raising the Bar on Taste
Blackberries remain a major focus, particularly addressing long standing challenges around flavor, firmness, and color stability. In 2025, advanced selections showed marked improvement across firmness, shipping durability, reduced red cell reversion, and eating quality.
Nearly all top selections outperformed industry standards in flavor, signaling a meaningful shift away from the historic tradeoff between yield and consumer satisfaction. Two standout selections have emerged, one combining exceptional flavor with best-in-class shipping performance, and another delivering high yields with large, attractive fruit and consistent eating quality.
“For blackberries especially, flavor cannot be an afterthought,” Fear noted. “If we want the category to grow, the eating experience has to meet or exceed expectations every time.”
Clean Plants and a Clear Path to Scale
To support commercialization, BSR has integrated tissue culture propagation into its strategy, ensuring clean, disease-free starting material and rapid, predictable scale up. This system allows promising selections to move efficiently from breeding plots to foundation nurseries and commercial fields, reducing risk for growers adopting new varieties.
What This Means for the Industry
The next wave of caneberry genetics is being built with today’s supply chain in mind. These are not experimental novelties; they are selections backed by multi-year data, multi-location validation, and a clear understanding of commercial demands. BSR is working very closely with Wish Farms and its Director of Caneberry Supply, Jose Saca, to ensure this pipeline reflects real-world production, shipping, and market needs.
With multiple raspberry selections advancing toward market readiness and blackberries showing meaningful gains in flavor and postharvest performance, the pipeline is moving decisively from promise to product. For growers, shippers, and retailers alike, that creates an opportunity to align future plantings with varieties designed to deliver consistency, quality, and repeat consumer purchases, without compromise.
