Estonia's strawberry season delayed by cold weather
Estonia's strawberry season will start later than usual this year due to cold spring weather, berry growers say. The price per kilo is expected to be similar to last year.
While last year's warmer-than-usual spring brought the start of Estonian strawberry season forward, this year open-field strawberries will ripen nearly three weeks later.
"Open-field strawberries will likely start coming in around Midsummer's Day, and the main harvest will be at the end of June or the beginning of July," Laari Farm strawberry grower Kadri Nebokat told ERR.
However, strawberries grown under cover are ripening earlier. For example, at Marimarta Farm in Jõgeva County, the first local strawberries have already been sampled. This is the first time the farm has grown strawberries under plastic cover.
"Our situation now is that normally we wouldn't even have a season, but since they're in a greenhouse, the season started earlier than expected because of the experiment. In the greenhouse, we have three varieties and we have been picking them since last week. But those in the field — their season has not started yet," said farm owner Janika Lindsalu.
She estimated that the price of Estonian strawberries is likely to remain around €8 per kilogram, as in previous years.
"Labor costs, all production costs, everything has gone up, and now on July 1, the VAT will increase too. So the price will remain around last year's level or be just a little higher," Lindsalu said.
Finding labor is not a concern for the farm owners. Strawberry pickers are usually young people or foreigners. At Marimarta Farm, Ukrainians are doing the picking.
While in the past, Estonians used to go to Finland to pick strawberries, that trend is fading. Lindsalu said that because people in Estonia are living better, they're no longer going abroad for work as much. But in Ukraine, where life is harder and jobs are scarce, seasonal work provides an opportunity to earn money.
"Our pickers come directly from Ukraine. They arrive when the season starts and leave when it ends. We have had the same people coming for years, so we do not have any major issues at the moment," said Lindsalu.
Kadri Nebokat also sees no problems with labor on her farm: "We also involve the Tallinn Student Brigade, with whom we have signed a contract. The labor force is there!"
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Editor: Helen Wright
