07/01/08 Identifying a Marionberry

Identifying a Marionberry. I'm Greg Martin with today's Fruit Grower Report. When is a blackberry, not a blackberry? When it's a Marionberry! Northwest growers know that a Marionberry is not a blackberry. It has a distinct flavor and is a premium product that demands higher prices. Oregon Department of Ag's Gary Neuschwander says growers and processors want to make sure there is no funny business. NEUSCHWANDER: I think the customers want a Marionberry when they buy a Marionberry. The official third-party verification guarantees that. The ODA has a new program to do audits in the field and at the processor to verify that the product is a Marionberry when it is labeled as such. Mark May with Rainsweet says the program provides less potential for mixing in other blackberries and calling it Marionberry. MAY: The bottom line is, we see it as truth in labeling. It's low cost. It's voluntary and it largely goes with the practices we already have in place. So the third party audit of our internal processes- we don't have to change a thing that we are already doing. Blackberry grower Byron La Follette says the industry needs to protect the Oregon Marionberry's premium status by having an identity preserved program. LA FOLLETTE: We're hoping that it will segregate the Marions from the rest of the blackberries. We feel they have a distinct taste and flavor. We think that's important for the industry to segregate this. That's today's Fruit Grower Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.