Berry-picking Finns flock to forests amid sales boom
Trading site Tori.fi has already seen many more berry sale listings than last year, with blueberry sales on track to reach a record high.
Finns are flocking to forests this summer to pick wild berries, driven by soaring prices that have made berry picking a lucrative endeavor. Last year, domestic pickers sold berries at an average price of 1.55 euros per litre, but this year the price has jumped to 4.50 euros per litre. One local picker, Soili Toura, has already earned around 1,000 euros weekly by delivering 20 buckets of blueberries to a Dalla Valle purchasing point in Lappeenranta.
The lower number of foreign wild berry pickers this summer has been a significant factor in this trend, with only 123 Thai pickers arriving, compared to thousands in past years. This has allowed more Finns to access berry picking opportunities. The Finnish berry company Dalla Valle attributes the surge in sellers to a ban on foreign worker visas following reports of worker exploitation.
Dalla Valle CEO Loreno Dalla Valle predicts a record season, noting that experienced pickers can now earn 200–300 euros a day. Online marketplace Tori.fi has seen a significant rise in blueberry listings, with around 3,000 currently posted, compared to 6,000 last year. Buyers have made about 50,000 searches for fresh wild blueberries on the site, a marked increase from previous years. Analyst Jenni Tuomisto from Tori.fi expects 2026 to be a record-breaking year for blueberry sales, with August being the peak month.
Written by urgent.news from Yle News Finland's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
