Germany: berry acreage grows by 7%
The berry consumption in Germany has been stable for more than four years, some varieties of berries even show an increase in consumption. In the 2012/13 season Germans consumed 173,000 tons of blackberries, blueberries and vos-berries (2.1 kg per capita), according to preliminary calculations from the 'Bundesanstalt für Landwirtschaft und Ernährung' (BLE) (Federal Agency for Agriculture and Food). In 2009 this number was 139,000 tons (1.7 kg per capita), which is clearly much lower. The consumption of redcurrant and raspberries has been steady at 1.5 kg per capita since 2010/11.
In 2013, 1,276 German companies grew berries on 7,303 hectares of land. This is 36 more companies than in the previous year and an increase of 463 hectares. The main growing areas for berries in Germany were Baden-Württemberg (1,584 hectares), followed by Niedersachsen (1,808 hectares) andd Bayern (976 hectares).
The total harvest volume amounted to 32,610 tons in 2013 (27,963 tons in 2012). From this, 31,654 tons were grown in the ground and 956 tons were grown using protective cultivation methods.