Lynn Lau
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Feb 04/02) - Jam might not be as lucrative as oil and gas, but it sure goes better on toast.

University of Alberta resource economics student Gordon Murray says if anyone wanted to get into jam up here -- especially cloudberry jam -- consumers would eat it right up.

Murray, who lives in Edmonton, spent the last two summers looking into the business potential of Northern wild berries, talking to Gwich'in berry pickers, surveying berry patches, counting berries, and interviewing the berry-consuming public.

He recently finished a taste test and customer survey at two gourmet food shops in Edmonton, asking people to compare various jams made of blueberries, cloudberries or cranberries.

He found that the volume of berries found in the Inuvik area would probably sustain a small cottage industry jam production, and that consumers prefer jams made from Northern berries and produced by First Nations people.

"It looks like people down here would prefer the cloudberries with either the First Nations or Northern Canada label, versus the other berry (products) whether its Kraft, or a Swedish label," Murray says.

His supervisor, University of Alberta economist Peter Boxall, says the results of the research should be encouraging to any Northerners interested in getting into jam. "A cloudberry jam with a Gwich'in label on it is going to work," says Peter Boxall. "There's certainly a potential for a cottage industry and from our work in Edmonton, there's the potential for tapping into a southern market."

He said such a product would be attractive to local shoppers and tourists looking to take home a made-in-the-North product.

Murray is planning on finishing his report, which doubles as his master's thesis, this April. He'll submit his findings to the Gwich'in Renewable Resource Board, which was a partner in the study, along with the Sustainable Forest Management Network.