Haskap Berries: export from Canada to ASEAN

Haskap is a relatively new commercial crop in Canada with a distinctive tart flavour and deep colour, positioned into premium and functional applications rather than as a commodity berry.

Buyers should approach it as a specialty ingredient with genuine supply constraints. Acreage is limited and expanding, so volumes are small and a programme has to be contracted against available production rather than assumed. A buyer planning a national retail launch on haskap should confirm multi-year supply before committing to packaging.

The product moves as IQF whole fruit, puree and juice. Specification points are size grade, brix, acidity, colour and defect tolerance.

The commercial proposition is the anthocyanin content and the novelty, which supports functional and premium positioning where the destination permits the relevant claims. Confirm that claim position early, since it is often the reason the premium is available at all.

Less common species sometimes fall into a residual line rather than having their own, which makes the classification less obvious than for established berries. Ask us to confirm rather than reasoning by analogy from blueberries.