Finnish Inventor's Berry-Picking Stool Becomes a Hit Amidst National Picking Boom

Hannu Melin, a resident of Joensuu, Finland, invented a portable stool designed to be attached to the posterior for berry picking. His invention, the "Pyllykkä" stool, has experienced a notable surge in sales this year, with Melin estimating sales have doubled compared to the previous year.

Melin is uncertain about the exact reasons for the increased demand. He speculates it could be due to the abundant berry harvest this summer, a renewed enthusiasm for berry picking among the public, or the viral success of a Facebook video featuring the Pyllykkä stool. However, sales are still in the hundreds, as the stools are currently manufactured in a "garage workshop."

Finland's Natural Resources Centre had predicted a more abundant blueberry harvest than usual in the southern and central parts of the country due to successful pollination. Melin also believes that awareness of fewer foreign berry pickers coming to Finland this year has motivated Finns to engage in berry picking themselves. Reports indicate a 50% increase in blueberry sales listings on Tori.fi in July compared to the previous year.

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I went to the forest a lot, and my back didn't like squatting. I started thinking about how a stool could be carried along. It was about 5–6 years ago when I sewed a three-legged tent stool to my shorts. But it didn't work in soft terrain, its legs sank into the forest.

The Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs recently announced it had processed approximately 1,600 seasonal work visa applications for natural berry pickers, issuing about 1,400 negative decisions. The ministry cited concerns about employers' compliance with legal obligations and potential risks of worker exploitation as reasons for the rejections. Additionally, the Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority revealed a national cartel in the berry sector that negatively impacted foreign pickers by allowing berry companies to pay lower prices due to a lack of competition.

Melin, an avid berry picker himself, primarily picks for personal consumption. The idea for the Pyllykkä stool originated from his own experiences with the physical strain of squatting while berry picking. He initially tried attaching a tent stool to his shorts about five to six years ago, but it proved impractical in soft forest terrain. While not picking commercially, Melin encourages younger generations to explore the berry market, noting that some young people are already achieving good earnings by selling berries.

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I would hope that younger people would also go to the forest. I've seen a few videos where the younger generation also goes to the forest and sells berries and makes good money.