Quebec police are searching for thieves who stole more than 900 kilograms of wild, handpicked blueberries from a merchant in the Saguenay last week.

The fruit — stolen in the middle of the night from La Doré — was worth more than $2,500, and is believed to be the largest blueberry theft on record in the province.

Police have no idea how the thieves got away with 83 flats of berries, but they believe the suspects used a large vehicle such as a pickup truck.

The thieves must have a buyer lined up because the fruit is perishable, said Roger Ouellet, a spokesman for the Sureté du Québec.

Blueberries are reported stolen every year, but never in this quantity, Ouellet said.

This summer's heavy rains have produced a bumper crop of wild blueberries in Quebec, according to the fruit's provincial growers' association.