Mulled wine production is currently underway. In a production hall it smells like a Christmas market with a dash of citrus. But it's not tangerine that smells - it's sea buckthorn. The orange berries grow in abundance in Petzow in Werder (Havel) on one of the largest plantations in Germany. Sea buckthorn loves sandy soil and therefore the famous “Märkische Streusandbüchse”.
It is currently harvest time. According to her own statements, farmer and entrepreneur Christine Berger operates 150 hectares of sea buckthorn fields: “You can simply make anything from sea buckthorn. That's the beautiful thing." So now mulled wine with a view to the coming Advent season.
A niche product: tourist products for the German coasts
The farmer calls the berry a super fruit. Her family has been making sea buckthorn for 35 years; back then the field was set up as an experiment. “During the GDR era, people thought about how to supply the population with vitamins.” Together with Berlin's Humboldt University, they came across the sea buckthorn and wanted to try it out.
Sea buckthorn is still a niche product today. It is best known on the North and Baltic Sea coasts, where the sea buckthorn bushes grow wild. The largest buyers of Brandenburg products are also located here. “This is our main sales channel, everything that is related to Baltic Sea tourism and vacation there,” explains Berger.
A shot glass in the morning
According to the Federal Statistical Office, over 270 tons of sea buckthorn were harvested in Brandenburg last year - more than in any other federal state. In organic bush berry cultivation, sea buckthorn even came in third place among the most important cultivated species: behind the aronia berry with 870 hectares of cultivation area and the cultivated blueberry with 590 hectares in an area of 480 hectares.
In the sales room of the Brandenburg company a few kilometers from the field in Potsdam-Mittelmark you can find pretty much everything you can imagine made from sea buckthorn: tea, sweets, liqueur, juice, gummy bears, jam, waffles, mustard, oil, horseradish, as well as cosmetics such as body lotion.
The bright berries are not available fresh. Immediately after the harvest, the covered branches are first shock-frozen and then put into the shaking machine. This is the best way to harvest sea buckthorn berries. They sit very tightly on the thorny branches and their thin skin could otherwise easily burst when plucked.
When it comes to sea buckthorn, you don't have to go from bush to mouth
Sea buckthorn berries are not tasty strawberries to snack on anyway. Fresh from the bush, the berries taste sour and tart - with a seed in the middle that is reminiscent of bitter grape seeds when you bite into it. It is often said that sea buckthorn only becomes suitable for the masses through sugar or a combination with other fruits.
“There are also pure lovers,” contradicts the farmer. In addition to trading with the coast, it is also focusing on the “clean eating” trend, as it is called in marketing language: food without unnecessary additives. The most popular is pure sea buckthorn juice. “Some people drink it in a shot glass every morning.”
“Lemon of the North” - Is sea buckthorn a super fruit?
She wants to score points with health-conscious customers and Generation Z - for whom sea buckthorn is nowhere near as hip as the exotic acai or goji berries - with a shot. Of course with ginger and turmeric.
Does sea buckthorn rightly bear the label “super fruit”? “Sea buckthorn is known as the lemon of the north because it has more vitamin C than the usual citrus fruits,” says Gabriele Kaufmann from the Federal Center for Nutrition. The orange berries also contain polyunsaturated fatty acids, vitamin E, beta-carotene, iron, magnesium, zinc, flavonoids and many antioxidants, explains the ecotrophologist.
Regional plant - it can only handle heat to a limited extent
“It is a great berry fruit because it has a remarkable mix of nutrients that not many plants have,” says the nutrition expert. But she doesn't want to get involved with the label "super", just as she doesn't want to get involved with the trendy fruits acai, goji and the like.
In contrast to other berries, it can be obtained regionally. Sea buckthorn may only be difficult for people with sensitive stomachs: tannins and acid can lead to heartburn or irritation.
As much as Berger relies on sea buckthorn, climate change concerns her. “We are particularly concerned about the long periods of heat.” A variety of sea buckthorn could not tolerate the great heat in June - with temperatures over 40 degrees in several places in the state. Their crops were damaged. “We are currently fighting to preserve the variety in Brandenburg.”
That's why the company is deviating from the previous philosophy of growing sea buckthorn as a wild plant as it is, says the farmer. During the growing phases, the young plants now receive water more frequently. The question is also whether she wants to stick with solo cultivation. She thinks that other crops could be added in the future: walnuts, for example.
