A Perthshire farm ended its blueberry production as it has become “uneconomical” to grow the crop.
It has been nearly 30 years since Peter and Melanie Thomson planted the first blueberry plants on West Haugh Farm in Blairgowrie.
For three decades, they have sold locally grown fruits and berries to Scottish supermarkets.
But with blueberries a popular crop in South America and southern Africa, the Blairgowrie farm can no longer compete with their low prices.
Peter says: “We gave up entirely on the blueberries because we can no longer make money on them.
“We have no realistic prospect of making money unless the supermarkets are prepared to pay for Scottish blueberries.
“But they know their customers, and the customers are not prepared to pay a premium for Scottish fruit.”
Closing Perthshire blueberry farm ‘right decision’
Peter and Melanie made the decision to stop spending money on their 65-acre crop last year, but are still growing and selling cherries on West Haugh Farm.
Blueberry bushes have a very long life, up to 50 years if cared for, meaning the couple have to give up many years of crops and potential return on investment.
Managing director Peter says not harvesting their 65-acre crop was the correct decision.
“If we hadn’t stopped we would have been losing money,” he says.
“We did it at a time when it wasn’t the bank forcing us to do it. That’s better than it could have been as well.
“The other thing is we are at an age where we probably should be retiring.
“We’re not retiring as we’ve got the cherries, but it may force us to slow down and take some time to enjoy a semi-retirement, if not a retirement.”
Charity success thanks to Facebook
To use the blueberry crops for good, Peter and Melanie opened the gates to the public to pick as much as they could carry for a donation to Macmillan Cancer Support.
They raised £7,000 for the charity.
Despite the success, Peter says a pick your own berries offer for next season will not be commercially viable.
He thinks the turnout was largely helped by a Facebook post made by The Shellfish Shack in Arisaig.
“We were out cycling and bought shellfish, and their post went somewhat viral. It got 330,000 views on Facebook,” he says.
“There were some unkind comments saying if we had used local labour over the years, we wouldn’t be in this position, but we have used local labour.
“The labour is available if you want to pay for it, but at the wages you have to pay it would make the fruits too expensive for the supermarket to buy.
“We can’t afford to pay local people or foreign people the wages the market demands. If we pay those wages it’s uneconomical to sell the fruit.
“Also, if someone is looking for a job, they’re not looking for a seasonal job, so they’re not coming out to the berries.”
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