PETERSFIELD, Man. – Saskatoon berry grower Sandra Purdy and Japanese importer Koh Matsumoto were having a discussion about the purple prairie berry as they walked through an orchard north of Winnipeg.
“Do you think we need to change the name,” she asked Matsumoto, who had never heard of saskatoon berries before being invited to this event.
“I wouldn’t change the name. It is an advantage, not a problem,” said Matsumoto, whose company, QP Corp., imports fruit to Japan.
Conversations like this were common during a two-day saskatoon berry show and tour organized by grower John Ritz, who has aggressively expanded the overseas market for the berries. Ritz brought growers from across Western Canada to meet with Japanese and European buyers and processors at his farm.
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Growers like Purdy wanted to find out from potential buyers like Matsumoto what kinds of saskatoon berry products might interest foreign consumers. Potential buyers like Matsumoto wanted to know what a saskatoon berry actually is.
“My purpose here is to learn about this mysterious fruit. It is virtually unknown in my country,” said Matsumoto.
After being told about this event by the Canadian embassy in Tokyo, Matsumoto was intrigued about the commercial potential for his company.
“We are hoping we can add this fruit to our jam lines,” he said.
Other foreign importers echoed his hopes. Fruits, especially berries, are popular with consumers now because of their health benefits.
“There’s a big culture of healthy eating,” said Ulster, Ireland, importer and processor Michael Hall, whose company, Kestrel Foods, was the first European company to market saskatoon berries in the European Union market.
German importer Heiko Janssen said saskatoon berries are healthy and exotic, and that appeals to German consumers.
“It’s healthy, it’s fantastic, it’s an apple,” said Janssen, noting that the berry’s country of origin provides a good reputation.
“Germans very much like Canada. So if you bring saskatoons and Canada together in one (advertising campaign) and present it to Germany, then it will be very popular.”
Janssen said he sees the same potential for saskatoon berries as for cranberries.
Janssen can see saskatoons being used in yogurts and chocolate bars, as well as in the trail mixes and cereals in which his company uses cranberries.
British bakery industry magazine journalist Sylvia Macdonald said her readers are looking for natural food products like saskatoons.
“I think they have great applications for bakery,” said Macdonald, mentioning danishes, cake toppings, pastry fillings and pies.
“Cranberries have taken off hugely. Now it’s blueberries. And I think the next one with potential is saskatoons.”
Purdy was pleased by what she heard. Her farm is part of a co-operative that brings the harvest of 16 farms together for processing.
“We can grow it, but we need to be able to sell it at the end of the day,” said Purdy.
“We feel there’s huge potential for the saskatoon berry but the world doesn’t know about it. We’re glad John (Ritz) is bringing the world to hear about it.”
None of the foreign buyers seemed put off by the exotic name of the berry. Most joked that it sounded like the Looney Tunes cartoons of Bugs Bunny, but that wasn’t bad.
Hall is still selling his saskatoon berry snacks in the United Kingdom and Ireland, but he isn’t allowed to import more until saskatoons are approved as a novel food.
“We don’t see any reason why that won’t sail through very, very soon.”
