Finland's berry industry has been in the headlines recently. The country's biggest berry firm is the focus of a criminal investigation in which the CEO is suspected of aggravated trafficking crimes. In addition, Olli Sorainen, a senior official at the Ministry for Economic Affairs and Employment, has been suspended from his post on suspicion of bribery and abuse of a public office.
This year around 4,000 berry pickers came to Finland from Thailand. This story explains how the system works and how pickers who can't speak Finnish can earn thousands of euros during the short berry picking season. The story is based on publicly available information alongside interviews with berry firm managers, official bodies and the Thai embassy.
1. Thailand decides how many berry pickers come
Practical preparations for the coming berry season are already in motion. Firms are calculating how many pickers they want for the season, based on previous years' data and harvest forecasts for next year.
The number of pickers coming to Finland is in practice decided by the Thai authorities, who grant a certain number of exit visas each year. In Finland the North Ostrobothnia Employment office distributes the permits among berry companies.
The final number is only decided in May, a couple of months before the pickers arrive in Finland. The Thai authorities can also have some input into the decision. For instance in 2018 they reduced the numbers after a trafficking scandal.
The pickers working in forests are not employees in Finland, but are seen as working on tourist visas using everyman's right. On berry farms the situation is different, with workers covered by legislation on seasonal workers.
2. Co-ordinators take care of practicalities
Recruitment of pickers in Thailand is handled by coordination firms or individuals, who are often Thai or otherwise know the country well.
The co-ordinators arrange visas and permits, buy flight tickets and also educate pickers about conditions in Finnish forests. One of the defendants in this autumn's trafficking case is an individual who operated as one of these co-ordinators.
The bureaucratic help and travel expenses are billed from the pickers later, so they can be in debt to co-ordinators when they arrive in Finland.
Pickers can be in Finland for a total of 90 days within a 180 day period without a need for a residence permit.
3. In Finland the pickers are dependent on the firm that invited them
A lot of firms in Finland have regular pickers, who return year after year. Coordinators bring them to the berry firms' camps.
Firms have in recent years purchased disused schools in Lapland and eastern Finland to house pickers. They are allowed to stay there, close to berry-rich forests, for a fee.
Companies might also arrange for food to be supplied along with a cook, but some of the pickers prefer to buy their own food and cook it themselves.
Fees are levied for this too, with the costs deducted from earnings when they get paid by the firm.
Transport to the forests is provided by cars rented from the berry companies. Generally pickers decide somebody in their group can act as an interpreter or a contact person.
Picking is hard work: days often last 10-14 hours, and it is not always possible to get back to the lodgings before nightfall if the distances travelled have been long.
4. Freedom to choose — or not?
Legislation that came into force two years ago stipulates that pickers have the freedom to choose to whom they sell berries and for how long they are in Finland. Berry firms are obligated to provide this information in the Thai language, as pickers often can't speak English or Finnish.
Usually a contact person who can speak English and Thai is the channel used for communication.
In practice pickers are almost completely reliant on the berry companies. Accommodation, transport to berry spots and to berry sales points are conducted in groups.
It can be difficult for an individual picker to ask the bus to drive maybe 50km in another direction so he could sell berries to a different purchaser.
5. A year's pay in two months
Berry firms also decide what kilo price they offer to pickers. This is influenced by the market price for forest berries, that is the price consumers are willing to pay in the market squares of Finland.
The legislation does mandate a minimum income for pickers of 2,200 euros. This is not always realised: Keski-Pohjanmaa reported last year that some pickers had been left with an income in the hundreds of euros.
The best-earning pickers in Finland get significantly better money. But there are problems if the berries are hard to find or the harvest is bad. Local weather conditions have a big impact, and can change quite significantly.
And if a picker falls sick, they will not make the money they hoped for.