’Bye-’bye blueberry?


Haskap is a challenger, but prairie enthusiast admits it has a long way to go.


By Glenn Cheater Canadian Farm Business Management Council Y


ou won’t find a more enthusiastic haskap fan than Curtis Braaten. The Saskatchewan grower got to know the berry when he volunteered for the University of Saskatchewan’s fruit development program and was the first to grow them when breeder Bob Bors released his first cultivars in 2007. “Wait until people have a chance to taste them,” says the co-owner of Haskap Central, located in Henribourg, north of Prince Albert. “Then look out — it will be, ‘Bye-bye blueberries.’ ”


But even Braaten isn’t predicting that will happen anytime soon.


“There’s nothing that’s going to slow it down except availability, but that is going to take time,” he says.


Curtis Braaten is a firm believer in the future of haskap berries, and says his Saskatchewan operation sells everything it produces every year.


Bors bestowed the Japanese name haskap on those cross-bred cultivars that retained the superior taste of Japanese varieties while incorporating hardiness of Russian ones (known as blue honeysuckle or honeyberries). Tasting the results convinced Braaten to get into the business.


“By 2006-07, I knew this was going to be big,” says Braaten. “I’m more convinced every year because every year we sell out everything we have.”


In fact, a juice company has placed a standing order for 60,000 pounds a month with Haskap Canada, the national growers’ association. That one order alone would likely consume a majority of current production. Braaten estimates there are only about 300 commercial haskap acres in all of North America. That’s up 50 per cent from a year ago, but that sort of exponential growth will need to continue for many years before production is big enough to tempt a major processor or restaurant chain to develop haskap products, he says.


“We’ve got a long, long ways to go,” says the 48-year- 18 British Columbia Berry Grower • Spring 2013


old, who has a 15-acre orchard with business partner Carl Barber. “I’ll be retired before you see McDonald’s running commercials for haskap sundaes. That’s decades away.” That’s only one challenge. Another is that the book on growing haskaps is still being written. Most current growers, including Braaten, are organic, which brings all the usual challenges of weed control and fertility. Pests and disease haven’t been major problems so far, although they may find the crop as acreage increases. Some producers are using chemical herbicides and fertilizer, but will be facing a market where organic currently commands the biggest premiums.


Another issue is that current cultivars bear fruit in June, which means the window for fresh product is very narrow. July- and August-bearing varieties are being developed, and there will likely be other new varieties with superior attributes when it comes to productivity, taste, vigour or other factors. But that raises another issue ñ anyone who plants a lot of acres now may find themselves with inferior orchards in the future.


The biggest issue is cost. Factor in plant stock, bird netting and other establishment costs, and† an acre of


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24