1. Riitan Herkku

2.  Riitan Herkku Scandinavian Wild Forest Berries offer healthy and high-quality choice for those who appreciate pure flavors from Finland.  They deal the most valuable Finnish berries in several countries all over the world.  As an expert in commercial berry picking they can always guarantee the best quality and assortment.

3. General information  Riitan Herkku was founded 1986  Riitan Herkku is a family company  Riitan Herkku export berries all over Europe (Germany, Austria, Belgium, France)  Riitan Herkku has about 100 employees  Riitan herkku employs around 400 foreign workers during the summer months to pick berries  They have a turnover of over 26 million euro  Berry pickers from Thailand, Mongolia and Russia comes to Finland to pick berries  They have companies in Ostrobothnia, Lapland, Lahti, Russia and Latvia.  Also cooperation with factories in other European countries

4. Berries?  The berries are full of vitamins and antioxidants which are good for your health  They have a natural source of vitamin C  The most usual ways to preserve the berries are by freezing or drying or as puree or juice  These berries can be used to make hot berry soup, yoghurts, drinks, etc.  The berries are used as ingredients both in foods, but also other kinds of products  In Asia the berries are used in pharmaceuticals, and in France they are used in cosmetic products  95% of the berries are exported to European countries mostly

5. Different sorts of berries  Bilberry (wild)Cloudberry Blueberry (cultivated)   LingonberryBuckthorn Raspberry 

6. Picking the berries  Pickers from Thailand, Mongolia, Russia, Estonia, Poland, etc.  In Thailand the farmers earn 1 euro a day, while when being here picking berries they earn 500 euros a day in general  The farmers don’t have any work in their home country during the summer months, this is a good way to earn money for the family. The rice is growing during these months and they have to wait until the rice has grown  The berries can be picked anywhere from above Tampere, but most of the berries are picked in Lapland  The pickers are paid by the kilo, which means they can work as much as they like.  The price paid is around 1€/kilo for bilberries, 4,5€ /kilo for cloudberries and 80 cents per kilo for lingonberry.

7. Berrypicking Championship  Berrypicking championship are held in the summer  Pickers try to pick as much lingonberry as possible in one hour.  Most foreign contestants are from Japan, but there are also people from many other countries