Scottish Honeyberries

Scottish Honeyberries Ltd is the UK’s first co-op dedicated to growing and marketing honeyberries – a climate resilient, nutrition rich fruit with strong commercial potential. As a fruit, it is incredibly versatile, boosting breakfast bowl nutrition, adding flavour to ice cream or as a splash of vibrant colour to a gin and tonic.

From a grower’s perspective, honeyberries are relatively easy to grow and harvest in the Scottish climate, at the same time enhancing the biodiversity profile of the farm.

Who did we work with?

SAOS worked with an innovative group of farmers and growers from across Scotland, with support from Scotland Food & Drink and other supply chain and market development partners.

Scottish Honeyberries Ltd is now in its seventh year and currently grows honeyberries across seventy-two acres of orchards from the Scottish Borders to the Highlands.

Why?

There is a growing market for 'superfruits' here in the UK which are particularly rich in antioxidants. This sees the UK import goji berries from China and acai berries from the Amazon, but honeyberries can compete in this market with a much shorter supply chain and without the hefty carbon footprint.

From the outset, the growers identified a market opportunity for a Scottish-grown alternative to these imports. A new product to the Scottish market, honeyberries are locally-produced, with strong provenance and environmental credentials. Despite the ongoing challenges of low consumer awareness, access to wholesalers and limited processing and freeze-drying infrastructure, Scottish Honeyberries Ltd continues to make strong progress in bringing its new product to market.

SAOS and Scottish Honeyberries Ltd have shown from the outset that collaboration and co-operation are essential in bringing the group together and launching a new Scottish 'superfruit' to market whilst building a commercially viable and sustainable honeyberry supply chain from early beginnings.

How did SAOS help?

Working collaboratively, we:

• Supported the formation and governance of the co-op
• Brought growers together to share knowledge and align growing practices
• Facilitated access to funding and market development support
• Provided strategic guidance through the SAOS Supply Chain team
• Worked to strengthen the links with Scotland’s food and drink sector to build awareness and develop routes to market.

What next?

Scottish Honeyberries Ltd continues to flourish. Their focus is on marketing, processing innovation such as freeze drying, and ongoing agronomy trials.

SAOS remains a key support partner as the co-op works to scale production and consumer demand for this unique Scottish crop.

Honeyberries represent a new, diverse addition to Scotland’s home-grown larder with exciting potential for the future.

 Find out more/try them: Scottish Honeyberry Growers | The Honeyberry Experts

You can find out more about our work with other collaborative groups at Network and Partnership Building

or get in touch with patricia.rojas@saos.coop