Lebanon’s ecosystem is a regional anomaly. Unlike most of the Arab world, there is no desert, and cedar trees grow along dewy mountaintops. Talal Nassereddine, an agro-businessman who hails from the same fertile mountains as Lebanon's famed cedars, has introduced another anomaly to the area: the North American highbush blueberry. 

Tout Berry Farms, Nassereddine’s family business on Mount Lebanon, describes itself as the first enterprise to cultivate and sell blueberries in the Middle East, making Nassereddine Lebanon’s version of Johnny Appleseed, the nineteenth-century American folk hero who introduced apple trees to large parts of the United States.

Nassereddine and his family previously counted themselves among the 15.4 million members of the Lebanese diaspora, in their case making a home in southern California. He decided to return to Lebanon for family reasons in 1998.

Known affectionately by his staff and family as Mr. T, Nassereddine has a breezy gait and a boyish grin. He spent the day with Al-Monitor, discussing his quest to become a regional pioneer in blueberry farming.