Blueberries, a superfruit rich in fiber and vitamin C, are usually picked from shrubs that grow in the ground.

Now a group of growers from the Golan Heights market a type of Australian blueberry that grows well in fresh northern air, but in containers on platforms inside a greenhouse.

These blueberry bushes were planted in 2018 by Carmel Berry, an association of the Ampa Group, Kibbutz Ein Zivan and Moshav Natur, in containers that are monitored for insects, water, fertilizers and oxygen. This year they produced 100 tons of blueberries and growers will add raspberries, blackberries and strawberries to the mix.

Carmel Berry blueberry bushes are grown in containers on the Golan Heights (Courtesy of Carmel Berry)

Carmel berries are not organic, but are cared for with biological insect control and hives are placed nearby to encourage the flowering stage.

The price of these gems? 175 NIS (about $ 50) for six boxes of 125 grams (4,4 ounces) each (available for home delivery and exported to Dubai and Europe).

That's roughly double the price of NIS 15 (about $ 4,2) on a box of the same size of imported Chilean blueberries.

Allowing more product imports to Israel has lowered the price of some crops, said Orna Sandal, from the fruit department of the Plant Marketing Board.

There is always a balancing act between agricultural imports and exports, Sandal said.

“We can grow just about anything here,” Sandal said. “It just costs more, mainly because of labor. So we always have to weigh what can be grown here or what can be imported more easily.”

Carmel Berry blueberries, now exported to Europe and Dubai (Courtesy of Carmel Berry)

Blueberries are clearly an expensive crop in Israel, Sandal said, "compared to something like tomatoes, which only cost a shekel or two each."

And Israelis have learned to love berries, he added. Some have “even changed the name,” Sandal said. "Before it was called uchmaniot, which is an ugly name for a precious fruit. Now they just call it blueberries, with an Israeli accent. "