Listening to Cort Brazelton is like delving into the global blueberry industry to its most remote corners. It covers everything and explains everything generously, both in English and Spanish. The Co-CEO of FallCreek Farm & Nursery is part of the history of the global blueberry industry and his experience is the most extensive and versatile of international specialists.

In this interview, which will soon be in the digital version of the BlueMagazine Magazine, Cort Brazelton refers to his vision regarding the blueberry market in China and emphatically and enthusiastically assures that China is an enormous opportunity, "it was in the time of Marco Polo and it is now" he points out, although he warns that it is a complex subject and not easy to give an opinion.

Fall Creek in China

“China is for China, it is the Middle Kingdom, it is not an easy place for foreigners, I have been traveling there for 12 years, more than 30 times, and we have waited to have a consolidated team of people with the same ethical values ​​as the company to start there in China, invest and establish ourselves”, he assures, referring to the will of Fall Crek to settle in China. 

He comments that they were very careful to establish themselves. They tested the varieties, defined their own field of research and their own vitro and nursery, very small and basic to start. "Fall Creek doesn't want to be the global leader in China, but we want to be present," she relates.

you pay for quality

“China as a market, for a Latin American exporter, is a great opportunity, there are many clients, many cultures, many subcultures. But it is difficult to go, it must be taken seriously, invest in time; not just put your foot in the water, put your leg in. The opportunity is immense, but the challenge is equally immense”, she assures.

"The extraordinary thing is that, in China, whatever the time of year, if you are offered a better quality fruit, you pay. You pay for quality, the market pays for quality, that is the wonder of China” highlights Brazelton and compares that in the United States this reality does not work in the same way. "Sometimes you pay the same price for bad fruit and good fruit, in China it's not like that," he says.

Without Guanxi there is no business 

In general, in Western culture we separate our personal life from our work life. The Chinese, on the contrary, consider the company where they work not only as a business organization, but as an extension of their own family. This as a result of their collective culture and social vision of institutions, and they have a concept for it, which we learned from the rich conversation with Cort Brazelton: Guanxi.

Cort Brazelton recounts his long relationship as a representative of Fall Creek with Chinese employees and clients, adapting culturally to the customs of that country in an almost familiar way.

“We have developed the last 12 years relationships with local companies with whom we have a long history. People who have stayed in my own house, they have sent their children to me for a little while, I have spent time with them and their families… that is Guanxi, it is much more than relationships, without Guanxi there is no business in China”, comment.

You can review the full interview with Cort Brazelton in the digital version of the 2022 edition of BlueMagazine Magazine.