Bred Naturally Through Cross Pollination

The Berry Innovators and everyone on the Driscoll’s team use natural breeding methods to create patented varieties of berries. Driscoll’s uses natural cross-pollination to ensure consumer-driven flavor and to continually improve all aspects of its berries – from flavor, to disease resistance, to appearance.

Cross-pollination is the transfer of pollen from one plant to another. In the same way bees move pollen from plant to plant, the Berry Innovators move the male pollen from one plant to the female part of a different plant (the pistil). Cross-pollination is important because it allows two separate plants with desirable characteristics to parent potentially even better children plants. If one blueberry plant is robust and capable of surviving in various climates, and another blueberry plant has fruit that is especially delicious, the Berry Innovators can take the pollen from the first plant and add it to the second plant. The result is that some of the child plants will have the favorable characteristics of both parent plants.

This allows Driscoll’s to discover new varieties of berries using the same natural breeding techniques employed by farmers for thousands of years. By using this natural method, Driscoll’s never needs to irradiate or genetically modify their plants. Driscoll’s patented plants are then available only to their independent farmers.