For blueberry pickers Liisa and Laura, the season has only just begun, yet they have already gathered a few hundred liters of berries. They consider this year's blueberry crop outstanding and say that right now is the best time to pick — the berries are especially sweet and juicy.

"In my opinion, this is one of the best years. I can say that because I've been going to the forest for more than ten years. There are plenty of blueberries, you don't have to wander around for ages to find anything. The berries are big and sweet, and now is the best time to pick them because they're especially ripe," said Liisa Kallari.

None of the sisters' berries reach wholesale buyers — everything they bring from the forest is offered for sale in social‑media groups, where prices range from six to ten euros per liter.

"I don't think I've ever had this many customers. People write immediately and place orders, so it really has become more popular. We don't sell to buyers because they pay very little, and it's simply not worth it. The work in the forest is hard. We sell cheaply too, but compared to the wholesale price… that would be a bit of self‑torture," Kallari said.

Wholesale buyers offer four euros per kilo for cleaned berries and three euros for uncleaned blueberries. OÜ Figurata buys only uncleaned berries. They say they have felt the shortage of foragers — and the shift to social‑media marketplaces — for several years already.

"Everyone wants a better price, of course. But self‑marketing on Facebook and online has also come into play, and then we're simply not needed in the middle," said Vallo Vaherpuu, production manager at OÜ Figurata.

This means that berries on Estonian store shelves increasingly come from other countries. "Finland, Sweden, Latvia, Lithuania — even Canada. Wherever wild blueberries can be sourced, that's where we have to get them, and there's nothing we can do," Vaherpuu said.

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