Norwegian wild berries-increased predictability and value creation

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Finished Last updated: 20.10.2025
End: jun 2023
Start: jan 2019

WILDBERRIES aim to increase commercial utilization of wild berries from

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Nofima Wild berry review Norges forskningsråd

Project participants

Baoru Yang Jari Miina Mikko Kurttila Rainer Peltola Ewelina Anna Wojciechowska Anne Linn Hykkerud Kjersti Aaby Aksel Granhus Josefine Skaret Antje Gonera Laura Jaakola Gesine Schmidt

Status	Concluded
Start - end date	01.01.2019 - 30.06.2023
Project manager	Inger Martinussen
Department	Horticulture
Total budget	10100000
Funding source	Norwegian Research Council

Norwegian forests. Woods and wilderness cover most land areas in Norway.

These areas are abundant of valuable renewable resources. There is an

increasing demand for wild berries not only for various food and beverage

products, but also in cosmetics and for extraction of various biochemical

compounds. In Finland and Sweden, wild berries are already a big industry,

while Norwegian wild berries are almost non-existent on the market.

WILDBERRIES focus on lingonberry. Lingonberry is a close relative of

cranberry, which have several of the same positive health effects. With

additional characteristics like taste, versatility and preservative properties

of lingonberry there is a great potential for increased value creation. It

is estimated that the annual crop of lingonberries in Norway is 115,000

tones, most of it non-exploited. One of the key challenges for further

commercialization is access to the raw material. The Norwegian topography

are challenging for logistic around harvesting. However, the same landscape

can possibly give unique qualities. The availability and quality of wild berry

yields varies from year to year and from locations to location. Yields are

affected by physiology, climatic conditions, geographic location and forest

management.

WILDBERRIES seek to develop tools and modells to map areas with

high yields and/or high-quality berries. Experiments at controlled climatic

conditions will give new knowledge on key factors affecting flower

development, ripening, yield and quality. Low prices on imported berries

make it difficult for Norwegian raw material to compete on profitability.

Innovative solutions and new knowledge on quality aspects open possibilities

for innovation, value creation and new products.

WILDBERRIES will be coordinated by NIBIO. R&D collaborators in Norway

are NOFIMA and Arctic University of Norway- UiT. LUKE and University of

Turku, are international partners.

Publications in the project

Academic article – Flavonoid biosynthesis is differentially altered in detached and attached ripening bilberries in response to spectral light quality

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Address	Postboks 115 NO-1431 Ås
Phone	+47 406 04 100
E-mail	post@nibio.no