Blue miracle: the blueberry, the Kim Kardashian of the fruit corer

The world has already seen some absurd steep careers. Kim Kardashian was once the Paris Hilton assistant, today she is a global media and fashion magazine. In the past, stomach bags only adorned the worst tourist outfits, today they design the hottest designers. But few promotion stories tell as much about our society as that of a small blue berry that was once only an insider tip for grandmother’s jam – and is now hyped as a “superfood”.

The Germans have largely fed the blueberry that is about, in large parts. This is illustrated by a new survey by the opinion research institute YouGov on behalf of the German Press Agency.

Among those who eat fruits (there should also be skeptics), almost half (47 percent) belonged to the blueberry on the favorite fruit. So it was just behind the raspberry (53 percent), but, for example, clearly in front of the blackberry (31 percent) and the currant (24 percent). Multiple answers were possible.

The path of the blue career berry becomes even clearer if you switch from this snapshot to a larger picture that extends over the past decades. For example, the blueberry areas in Germany have grown in recent years. You can find out when you call up the “shrubberry survey”, which really means.

Import bomb in the Obegegal

The cultural -Heidelbere was therefore “the most important shrubberry in Germany in 2024 with an acreage of 3,500 hectares (+0.9 percent compared to 2023), the Federal Statistical Office states. Since the first “shrubberry raising” in 2012, the area has been continuously expanded. At that time, blueberries were only grown on almost 1,840 hectares.

However, consumption has increased even more – there are now enormous imports from abroad. “The import numbers for blueberries have doubled in Germany since 2018. Since 2015, they have even increased by a factor of 4.5,” says Claudio Gläßer, market analyst at the Information Society Agrarmarkt.

Late -borns are probably difficult to imagine that blueberries were at some point rarer than a cheap apartment in a big city. In the past, they were found rarely in the supermarket and if so, then in rather manageable quantities. Today you can carry the berries home in every season, often also in bucket -like buckets.

At that time they were happy about a shrub

Market analyst glasses, born in 1990 and an avowed blueberry eater, can still remember how difficult it was once to get the little blue knobs. “I was happy when I had my own little shrub at some point. At that time it was a pure seasonal phenomenon.” No more today. “There are no more phases a year in which there are no blueberries,” says Gläßer.

Anyone who tries to find the reasons for the expansion story of the blueberry ends up in the middle of the background noise of our time: a bit of complexity reduction here, some self -optimization there. And technology.

On the one hand, blueberries have been hyped as “superfood” for years. According to the Federal Center for Nutrition, the low -sugar fruits contain comparatively large amount of vitamin E and manganese. Her high content of Anthocyan is intended to ensure that you have a cell -protecting effect in the human organism.

“Evering of 2 × 200 ml blueberry juice five days before a half marathon led to a delayed start and less strong sore muscles with trained runners on the race day,” you read in astonishment in the “Sports Physician newspaper”. By the way, blueberries and blueberries describe the same fruit.

Snack of the Convenience generation

Above all, blueberries are easy to handle, which fits in a time when you want good things, but please without sticky fingers. “In the fridge, blueberries, for example, keep much better than other berry fruits,” says Markt analyst Gläßer. “Nothing has to be snipped compared to the strawberry.” There is simply nothing back – an important quality for a snack. In other countries, the berries would even be offered as a popcorn replacement in the cinema.

Producers and retailers also get along well with the blueberry. According to the Lower Saxony State Office for Consumer Protection and Food Safety, the cultural -hedberries that we know from the supermarket do not come from the wild forest Heidelberry growing in Europe, but from the American blueberry and other North American species. Due to a slightly thicker shell, it can be stored longer.

“Under controlled conditions, blueberries can be stored for four to six weeks,” explains analyst Gläßer. This affects the possible transport routes. “Blueberries no longer have to be flown in today, but can be imported by ship in containers from Peru.” The transport costs are lower.

Such far -traveled fruits, of course, do not necessarily have a good climate balance. “So long transport routes are almost inevitably accompanied by high fuel consumption and thus high climate-damaging CO2 emissions,” says the platform utopia.de.

So far, this has not ended the boom of the berry. The blueberry has long since become a global snack icon from jam statists. Maybe she will soon get her own documentary or at least a podcast.