Swiss farmer tries his luck with Haskap berries

The Japanese and Canadians have known it for a long time: Haskap berries are healthy, are striking with their blue colour and they taste good. Farmer Thomas Burren has been growing the berries, still relatively unknown in Switzerland, for a while now.

By Martin Brunner
Thomas Burren is beaming on the edge of a piece of land that may soon become famous. The Thurgau farmer from Chressibuech in the community of Hefenhofen has decided to grow Haskap on 1.1 hectares. He planted some 5,500 bushes. They are still small, but some are already showing what they will produce in the end: an elongated, cylindrical, blue fruit, which will conquer the consumers’ taste buds.

Thomas Burren is already looking forward to the first real harvest.
Source: Lid/Martin Brunner

Valuable components
The Haskap - also called sweetberry honeysuckle, Siberian blueberry or honey berry- is still hardly known in Switzerland. Nevertheless, the chances of a market success are certainly there, because they will meet the strong consumer demand for healthy, regional products. "Super is always a difficult word," explains the farmer. "Research has shown, however, that the Haskap actually comes up on top regarding healthy components compared to the blueberry, apple, orange, etcetera. It's rich in antioxidants, vitamins A, E and C. The trace elements like iron, magnesium, phosphorus and calcium are healthy as well. " The Haskap also scores points in terms of consumption and processing. Fresh, it tastes bitter-sweet, similar to a blueberry. It is full-bodied and refreshing and is also suitable for yoghurt, jam, syrup, ice cream and much more.

The blue, elongated Haskap berries. Source: Lid/Martin Brunner

Many advantages
But the Haskap also has some surprises regarding its production. Thomas Burren tells of a robust plant that survives the moisture of winter well. "Its flowers can hold out up to minus eight degrees Celsius, which causes them to flower very early." Their growing season is very short because the plant comes from latitudes with short summers (see box). This means that it does not naturally grow during hot weather periods. "Their only drawback is perhaps that the berry requires a lot of manual labor right up to the harvest, which is done by hand." But Burren has to wait another year for that. He was only able to plant his shrubs somewhat late this year, which is why they will yield little. "But we are confident that we will be able to sell enough berries next year."

Source: LID/Martin Brunner