A deep dive into wild, cultivated, and organic.

Words like wild, cultivated, and organic come up often when talking about berries and plants. They can sound self-explanatory - but they actually mean different things. For us, being clear about what they mean matters, especially since some of our raw materials come from Natural Nordic, who work with Nordic berries in various forms. Here we break down the concepts.

Wild - berries that grow freely in nature

Wild berries grow entirely on nature's own terms. They are not planted, irrigated, or fertilized by humans, but grow where they have always grown - in forests, on bogs, and on land not used for agriculture.

When Natural Nordic talks about wild berries, this includes things like:

• bilberries, lingonberries, or other berries picked in Nordic forests

• areas far from roads, industry, and intensive farming

• raw materials handled with care after harvest, without additives

Wild berries are not automatically organically certified, even though they grow completely naturally. This is because organic labelling is about certification and documentation - not just how untouched the nature is.

Cultivated berries - when humans control the growing site

Cultivated berries grow on land where people have decided where, how, and to what extent the berries will grow. The bushes are planted, the harvest is planned, and production is managed to be consistent and predictable.

A clear example is the difference between:

• wild blueberries (bilberries), which are small, dark, and flavourful

• cultivated blueberries (highbush blueberries), which are larger, lighter in colour, and often milder in taste

Cultivated berries can be practical from an availability and volume perspective, but often differ in taste, appearance, and composition compared to wild berries.

Organic is a matter of certification

Organic is not about where something grows, but how it is controlled and certified.

For a raw material to be called organic, requirements include:

• the land is certified according to organic regulations

• no synthetic pesticides or artificial fertilizers are used

• the entire chain is documented and audited by independent inspection bodies

This means that:

• a wild berry can be entirely natural, yet lack organic certification

• a cultivated berry can be organic, if it meets the requirements

Organic is therefore a guarantee of how a product has been produced, rather than a measure of how "wild" it is.

How does it all connect?

Simply put:

• Wild describes how the berries grow — freely in nature

• Cultivated describes that humans control the growing

• Organic describes how production is certified and controlled

At Natural Nordic, there are both wild raw materials and organically certified products. This makes it possible to choose based on what matters most to you: wildness, certification, or a combination of both.

What does it mean when we choose raw materials?

When you see that a product contains:

• wild berries, this typically refers to raw materials from Nordic nature, picked where they grow naturally

• organic berries, this refers to controlled cultivation methods according to established regulations

Neither of these is inherently better or worse — they are simply different ways of working with nature's raw materials. For us, transparency is what matters most: that you know what the words mean and what you are choosing.