A comparative study of the wild berry industry’s innovation system in Sweden and Finland : Conditions affecting the prospect of an industry development

Abstract: Sweden has yet to fully explore its industry regarding wild berries, with the resource patiently waiting in the forest to be used, with great potential for future endeavors. When it comes to wild berry related innovations, not much has happened in Sweden in the last couple of decades, with the technique of freezing houses being the most recent. Another country close to Sweden with possibly a more developed wild berry industry is Finland, which leads to the aim of this study which is to conduct a comparative study based on the separate countries’ innovation systems through a company perspective. The study was conducted by a comparative approach with data collected via literature studies and interviews gathered with purposive sampling. To further investigate the differences between the two countries facilitating and hindering aspects, a performance matrix was applied. These were ultimately connected with functions of innovation development based on the innovation system approach, and a reflection on cumulative causation. The results indicated most facilitating aspects in Sweden as originating from demand side actors, and most hindering aspects as originating from actors third party and companies. In Finland, most facilitating aspects come from companies and third parties, and most hindering aspects also come from third parties as well as supplier/ labor actors. The innovation system analysis found Finland to have more facilitating aspects relating to functions contributing to the inception of innovations while compared to Sweden. The study concluded that Sweden has great opportunities to flourish in the industry, however the interplay between actors should follow a more Finnish approach.