Cloudberries sound like fruits out of a fever dream, but if you love discovering new fruits and flavours, you’ll be happy to know that they’re actually real. Learn all about cloudberries and the growing hype around this Scandinavian fruit.
These orange-yellow fruit are native to Scandinavia, and they’re often used when making Nordic drinks and dishes. They’re also extremely rare since they grow in just a few select parts of the world. However, the mystique surrounding this fruit is about to get shattered as it has already made its way into the west.
Recently, American fast food chain Chik-fil-A launched a new beverage called Cloudberry Sunjoy, which is a combination of lemonade, sweet tea, cloudberry, and cherry blossom. A spokeswoman from the company said that the cloudberry drink scored best in internal testing, and after a successful test in Atlanta, Georgia, it was offered throughout the US in autumn last year. This is just the start of the cloudberry trend though, as we can expect more products that contain this amazing fruit to pop up in stores and restaurants all over the world. Here’s what you need to know about cloudberries, and the growing hype around this Scandinavian fruit.
Related: Scandinavian Berries
Surprise! It’s not a Berry
Need a break from your typical apples, oranges, and grapes? You’re in luck. The world is full of unusual and exotic fruits that are worth discovering, such as dragon fruit, durian, and lychees. While the best fruit usually grow in the tropics, there are fruits that thrive in colder regions that are worth getting to know.
One of these is the cloudberry.
Despite its name, the cloudberry is technically not a berry. It belongs to a family of flowering herbs that bear edible fruit. It grows in arctic environments like Norway, Sweden, and Finland, but it can also be found in Russia and colder states in the US, such as Alaska and Minnesota. In Scandinavia, cloudberry season is from July to August, and during those months it’s common to see people foraging for this fruit. The cloudberry plant bears white flowers and golden fruit, which is why it’s also referred to as Lapland gold. Locals usually make cloudberries into jam, though some prefer to eat them straight from the bush. They’re also wonderful in desserts and cocktails, or you can make them into cloudberry syrup to drizzle over pancakes, waffles, or freshly-baked bread.
Related: Scandinavian Food and Drink
Are Cloudberries Good for You?
The cloudberry is considered as a superfood since it’s full of nutrients that can be good for health. It has high levels of Vitamins A and C, which can boost immunity. This fruit also has iron, which can improve blood circulation, as well as omega-3 and omega-6 which can lower bad cholesterol. The antioxidants in cloudberries can also help to fight the signs of ageing, prevents diabetes, and retain skin moisture.
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Cloudberry Trends to Look Out For
Since cloudberry has a lot of skin-nourishing properties, we can expect to see more cloudberry-based skincare products in the market in the coming years. Scandinavian beauty brand Eleni & Chris already has an anti-ageing face serum infused with cloudberry for all skin types, while vegan skincare brand Skyn Iceland has a moisturizing cloudberry cream. It’s also expected that cloudberry wines are going to be very popular. In fact, Finland-based Aino Winery is already making waves with their Valokki, which is a wine with high concentrations of pure cloudberry.
Cloudberries are tasty and oh-so-good for you, so what’s not to like about this amazing fruit? Expect to see more cloudberry-infused skincare, drinks, and food in the market as more people discover the incredible taste and health benefits of this unique Scandinavian fruit.
All About Cloudberries, And The Growing Hype Around This Scandinavian Fruit, written dedicatedly for Daily Scandinavian by Karoline Gore. Karoline is a freelance writer from Stoke on Trent in the UK who left the corporate grind when she started a family and has never looked back. She enjoys contributing to a range of online publications on the topics that are important to her.