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Rhône-Alpes
A violet-black berry, smaller than a marble, gathered with a comb on the slopes of the monts du Forez — the blue gold that paid for the education and shoes of generations of Livradois-Forez peasants.
Fruit from Rhône-Alpes.
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The wild bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus) is an iconic species of the areas at the heart of the Massif Central — the Monts du Forez and Livradois first and foremost, but also the Margeride, Mézenc, Pilat, monts d'Ardèche, and plateau de Millevaches. It thrives in light, permeable, acidic soils — granite, gneiss, mica schist, volcanic rock — between 750 and 1,400 metres in altitude; it fears drought but withstands the cold well, except for late frosts without snow cover. The heathlands it forms are partly classified as habitats of Community interest, and their preservation depends directly on pastoral farming and open landscapes.
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On the Monts du Forez, the gathering of wild bilberries has been handed down from generation to generation: peasants picked them to sell to collectors, and the money earned 'by the strength of their wrists' long enabled them to purchase equipment, clothes, or books so their children could pursue their studies in town. Fifty years ago, farmers still made up 75% of pickers; today, it is mostly pensioners who keep the tradition alive, alongside permanent or seasonal residents and a few passing tourists. The harvest follows a well-established chain of intermediaries — pickers, leveurs (local shopkeepers who store the fruit), and brokers (who transport it to collectors) — before being processed and marketed, with a substantial portion of Auvergne's production even exported to England, Belgium, Germany, or Italy.
In 1984, a market price collapse of around 50% prompted a handful of Forez farmers to react: with the support of the Parc naturel régional Livradois-Forez, they founded the Syndicat des Producteurs de Myrtilles et de Petits Fruits du Livradois-Forez, invested in processing equipment, and added value to their harvest in syrups, juices, jams, and jellies. That same year saw the birth of the Fête de la Myrtille du col du Béal, held every 15 August on the peaks of the Monts du Forez, which remains, forty years later, an unmissable fixture of the Forez summer. The Confrérie de la Myrtille Forézienne, founded in 2002 in Noirétable, continues to champion the fruit and the territory it symbolises; more recently, in 2023, the Collectif Myrtille Sauvage du Forez was formed to support the Parc in preserving the resource — combating heathland dieback, climate change, and the decline of traditional picking — and has organised the Fête du col du Béal since 2024.
Appearance
Small, round berry with violet-black skin, distinctly smaller than cultivated blueberries.
Taste
A taste quality renowned as superior to that of imported frozen blueberries from Eastern Europe, which nonetheless provide stiff competition; hot, dry years with little rain produce less plump, but sweeter, fruit.
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The myrtille forézienne is primarily consumed in processed forms: jams, jellies, syrups, and purées, as well as sweets, liqueurs, yoghurts, and baby-food jars. Some fermiers-aubergistes in the Livradois-Forez incorporate it into more surprising recipes — rabbit pâté or pigeon terrine with bilberries — or offer it in tarts and sorbets. The simplest experience remains tasting it on site at the Fête de la Myrtille du col du Béal on 15 August, where local producers and pickers present it fresh, alongside its processed products.
No official quality mark protects the myrtille forézienne: it is a wild berry, gathered rather than cultivated, falling outside the scope of PDO (AOP)/PGI (IGP) specifications. Its defence rests on two local associations — the Confrérie de la Myrtille Forézienne (founded in 2002) and the Collectif Myrtille Sauvage du Forez (established in 2023), which works alongside the Parc naturel régional Livradois-Forez in an effort to preserve the natural resource rather than pursue certification.
Brotherhood
Artisanal industry
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