Riitan Herkku

Riitan Herkku 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.

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

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

Different sorts of berries Bilberry (wild) Cloudberry Blueberry

(cultivated)

Lingonberry BuckthornRaspberry

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.

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