BLUEBERRIES have become a favourite for many of us. The antioxidant-rich berry started climbing the popularity ratings in 2010.

With its slightly thicker skin, it keeps a little longer than the more delicate soft fruits, making them an appealing choice for supermarkets and shoppers.

For the best part of a decade, Peter and Melanie Thomson have been growing blueberries on their Blairgowrie farm. Their crop grew to cover 25 hectares, with 300 tonnes of berries coming off the bushes, each one picked by hand.

To begin with, it was an excellent business, but now the farm is in a race to get their last blueberry harvest in by the end of the month. The bushes, which have been tended for 10 years, are being taken out and this 100-year-old family farm faces an uncertain future.

“We used to have 15 permanent staff and 400 seasonal workers,” Peter says. “This year we are down to five permanent staff. The blueberry crop is down to seven hectares and 100 tonnes of fruit.”

As is often the case, leaving the EU is a big part of the problem. Skilled pickers from Europe are hard to find. Arrivals under the UK Government’s seasonal worker scheme – mainly from Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan – are new to the job and the price of labour has soared. Slower hands mean it takes longer to fill those punnets.

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The policy manager for crops at the National Farmers’ Union of Scotland (NFUS), David Michie, said:

“All soft fruit farms have been hit massively. It is very difficult to get and to keep workers. It is, of course, right that farmworkers are paid well but we are seeing Scottish farms being displaced by cheaper imports from countries where wages aren’t relative.

“Wages now are 60% of farm costs as a proportion of output. Farms can’t charge less per punnet but anything more than £2 per punnet and people just won’t buy the fruit.”

Blueberries are a lucrative crop. For many years, Scotland had the October market to itself as the short season moved around countries in the temperate zones, leaving a window when those plump, sweet fruits at their peak after a long Scottish summer were the only ones available.

Blueberries need vernalisation, a period of cold weather before they flower, so the crop could only be grown in countries with a winter season.

Recently that changed, with new cultivars opening the market up to year-round production in places such as Peru and South Africa, where people are paid significantly less for their labour in poorer working conditions.

“The supermarkets love the new varieties,” Peter said. “They might not taste as good as Scottish berries, but they are larger and firmer and transport well. It probably costs almost the same to get them from Peru to London as it does from Perthshire.

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“In 2014, the price paid to Scottish farmers was £17 per kilo, now it is £7 per kilo. The supermarkets are no doubt finding it a profitable deal.

“I think a lot of people support Scottish agriculture, but when produce from elsewhere is on sale at much cheaper prices, what can you do if you are struggling to feed yourself in this economic climate? We are in danger of losing a lot. We risk losing food security. It is worrying.”

Melanie and Peter were horrified at the thought of many thousands of berries rotting on the bushes when so many people are struggling to make ends meet.

So, they decided to open their fields to the community, calling out for volunteers to save the crop and get it out to those who could use it.

The team behind BARI Larders, wee cupboards filled with produce for sharing which can be found around Blairgowrie and Rattray, called out for pickers and found ways to make sure the berries reached people who could use them.

Amnesty International and Macmillan Cancer Support have both benefited as people pick the berries and leave a donation. Folk in wee towns and villages from miles away are doing what they can to save the harvest.

Jam jars are being shared; food bank freezers are being filled. A challenging time for one family business is being turned into an act of solidarity and goodwill, benefiting hundreds of people. As many of us are finding now, in the midst of despair, there is community and kindness.

And yet, and yet.

Ruth Watson is the founder of the Keep Scotland the Brand campaign.