I was thinking more about the haskap berries that we learned about while at the honey wine farm on Thursday and thinking about their similarities to huckleberries, which we were able to try in dessert forms while in the Montana/Idaho/Wyoming area last summer. Haskap’s flavor profile has been likened to a cross between a raspberry, blueberry, and a black currant. Huckleberries are likened to a slightly tarter version of a blueberry.

While both berry types are high in antioxidants, haskap berries can be cultivated (though it does seem to be difficult), whereas huckleberries refuse to be cultivated and must grow in the wild. Both are very delicate berries, with the haskap being oblong and the huckleberry being round, and given how soft they are, they are nearly impossible to ship and sell in markets, resulting in the majority of their uses being in the frozen/blended/jam/wine/syrup form. Even when in season in the Montana area, it is rare to see huckleberries in the produce aisles of grocery stores, and instead, they are sold by weight in the frozen aisles. Both are quite expensive to purchase even frozen; I believe that Charles from the honey wine farm said they would go for about $16-18 CAD/pound, which means they’re more expensive than buying lobster, shellfish, or steak in many instances!

Charles said that even if haskap berries were able to sustain long transport and be sold in local markets and grocery stores that he doesn’t think they would sell well because it’s a little known fruit, which means most people would not want to buy them. People tend to buy what they know. The funny thing is that when I’m at the market and I see a fruit I do not recognize, I am quite the opposite: I immediately want to know what it is and what it tastes like, and so I’ll usually buy it. But unfortunately because I live in New York, that occasion happens quite rarely. It happens more when I am traveling to other countries and see things I may not recognize. If it’s fruit, how bad could it possibly be?