The country grows the most boysenberry crops is New Zealand. The small island nation makes more than half of all boysenberries on Earth. New Zealand boysenberry production now beats the United States by a wide margin.
I learned this fact when I flipped over a bag of frozen boysenberries last year. The label said Nelson, New Zealand. That seemed odd to me at the time. Boysenberries got their start in California, so I dug into the story behind the switch.
The Nelson boysenberry region sits on the north tip of the South Island. The spot gets mild wet winters and warm dry summers. Those weather patterns match the coast of California where Rudolph Boysen first bred the fruit. The plants thrive in this mirror climate.
California once led the world in boysenberry farms. Acres peaked at 2,400 in the 1950s under growers like Walter Knott. But the crop fell out of favor over the years. Land got too costly and labor too hard to find. So farms in California shrank as the years went by.
New Zealand stepped in to fill the gap. Today the country has 19 commercial growers working 206 hectares (509 acres) of land. Total output hits 2,700 tonnes each year. The Nelson area alone makes over 50% of the global boysenberry supply on its own.
I find it wild how one small region rules a global crop. Most of the fruit ships out as a frozen pack or as concentrate. 1,500 tonnes of frozen fruit and 480 tonnes of juice base leave each year. That ranks New Zealand as the top boysenberry exporter on the planet. Your bag of frozen boysenberries most likely came from these farms.
When I buy frozen berries now, I always flip the bag. Check the back label of any frozen pack at your store. The text often lists Nelson or just New Zealand as the source. Brands like Tasti and Heartland source from the Nelson zone for their bagged fruit.
You can also look for Stahlbush Island Farms or Wyman's in the freezer aisle. Some of their packs blend New Zealand fruit with Oregon stock. Try a few brands side by side at home. You will pick up on slight taste shifts from each region. The Nelson fruit tends to be a bit more tart. Oregon fruit reads sweeter on your tongue. Either one will work great in your pies and jams.
Read the full article: Boysenberry Plant Growing Guide
